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 Roger William Corman was born April 5, 1926, in Detroit, Michigan. Initially following in his father's footsteps, Corman studied engineering at Stanford University but while in school, he began to lose interest in the profession and developed a growing passion for film. Upon graduation, he worked a total of three days as an engineer at US Electrical Motors, which cemented his growing realization that engineering wasn't for him. He quit and took a job as a messenger for 20th Century Fox, eventually rising to the position of story analyst.After a term spent studying modern English literature at England's Oxford University and a year spent bopping around Europe, Corman returned to the US, intent on becoming a screenwriter/producer. He sold his first script in 1953, "The House in the Sea," which was eventually filmed and released as Highway Dragnet (1954).Horrified by the disconnect between his vision for the project and the film that eventually emerged, Corman took his salary from the picture, scraped together a little capital and set himself up as a producer, turning out Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954). Corman used his next picture, The Fast and the Furious (1954), to finagle a multi-picture deal with a fledgling company called American Releasing Corp. (ARC). It would soon change its name to American-International Pictures (AIP) and with Corman as its major talent behind the camera, would become one of the most successful independent studios in cinema history.With no formal training, Corman first took to the director's chair with Five Guns West (1955) and over the next 15 years directed 53 films, mostly for AIP. He proved himself a master of quick, inexpensive productions, turning out several movies as director and/or producer in each of those years--nine movies in 1957, and nine again in 1958. His personal speed record was set with The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), which he shot in two days and a night.In the early 1960s he began to take on more ambitious projects, gaining a great deal of critical praise (and commercial success) from a series of adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories, most of them starring Vincent Price. His film The Intruder (1962) was a serious look at racial integration in the South, starring a very young William Shatner. Critically praised and winning a prize at the Venice Film Festival, the movie became Corman's first--and, for many years, only--commercial flop. He called its failure "the greatest disappointment in my career." As a consequence of the experience, Corman opted to avoid such direct "message" films in the future and resolved to express his social and political concerns beneath the surface of overt entertainments.Those messages became more radical as the 1960s wound to a close and after AIP began re-editing his films without his knowledge or consent, he left the company, retiring from directing to concentrate on production and distribution through his own newly formed company, New World Pictures. In addition to low-budget exploitation flicks, New World also distributed distinguished art cinema from around the world, becoming the American distributor for the films of Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Federico Fellini, Fran?ois Truffaut and others. Selling off New World in the 1980s, Corman has continued his work through various companies in the years since--Concorde Pictures, New Horizons, Millenium Pictures, New Concorde. In 1990, after the publication of his biography "How I Made A Hundred Movies in Hollywood And Never Lost A Dime"--one of the all-time great books on filmmaking--he returned to directing but only for a single film, Frankenstein Unbound (1990)With hundreds of movies to his credit, Roger Corman is one of the most prolific producers in the history of the film medium and one of the most successful--in his nearly six decades in the business, only about a dozen of his films have failed to turn a profit. Corman has been dubbed, among other things, "The King of the Cult Film" and "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and his filmography is packed with hundreds of remarkably entertaining films in addition to dozens of genuine cult classics. Corman has displayed an unrivaled eye for talent over the years--it could almost be said that it would be easier to name the top directors, actors, writers and creators in Hollywood who DIDN'T get their start with him than those who did. Among those he mentored are Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson, James Cameron, Robert De Niro, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante and Sandra Bullock. His influence on modern American cinema is almost incalculable. In 2009 he was honored with an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Bio:
Roger William Corman was born April 5, 1926, in Detroit, Michigan. Initially following in his father's footsteps, Corman studied engineering at Stanford University but while in school, he began to lose interest in the profession and developed a growing passion for film. Upon graduation, he worked a total of three days as an engineer at US Electrical Motors, which cemented his growing realization that engineering wasn't for him. He quit and took a job as a messenger for 20th Century Fox, eventually rising to the position of story analyst.After a term spent studying modern English literature at England's Oxford University and a year spent bopping around Europe, Corman returned to the US, intent on becoming a screenwriter/producer. He sold his first script in 1953, "The House in the Sea," which was eventually filmed and released as Highway Dragnet (1954).Horrified by the disconnect between his vision for the project and the film that eventually emerged, Corman took his salary from the picture, scraped together a little capital and set himself up as a producer, turning out Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954). Corman used his next picture, The Fast and the Furious (1954), to finagle a multi-picture deal with a fledgling company called American Releasing Corp. (ARC). It would soon change its name to American-International Pictures (AIP) and with Corman as its major talent behind the camera, would become one of the most successful independent studios in cinema history.With no formal training, Corman first took to the director's chair with Five Guns West (1955) and over the next 15 years directed 53 films, mostly for AIP. He proved himself a master of quick, inexpensive productions, turning out several movies as director and/or producer in each of those years--nine movies in 1957, and nine again in 1958. His personal speed record was set with The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), which he shot in two days and a night.In the early 1960s he began to take on more ambitious projects, gaining a great deal of critical praise (and commercial success) from a series of adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories, most of them starring Vincent Price. His film The Intruder (1962) was a serious look at racial integration in the South, starring a very young William Shatner. Critically praised and winning a prize at the Venice Film Festival, the movie became Corman's first--and, for many years, only--commercial flop. He called its failure "the greatest disappointment in my career." As a consequence of the experience, Corman opted to avoid such direct "message" films in the future and resolved to express his social and political concerns beneath the surface of overt entertainments.Those messages became more radical as the 1960s wound to a close and after AIP began re-editing his films without his knowledge or consent, he left the company, retiring from directing to concentrate on production and distribution through his own newly formed company, New World Pictures. In addition to low-budget exploitation flicks, New World also distributed distinguished art cinema from around the world, becoming the American distributor for the films of Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Federico Fellini, Fran?ois Truffaut and others. Selling off New World in the 1980s, Corman has continued his work through various companies in the years since--Concorde Pictures, New Horizons, Millenium Pictures, New Concorde. In 1990, after the publication of his biography "How I Made A Hundred Movies in Hollywood And Never Lost A Dime"--one of the all-time great books on filmmaking--he returned to directing but only for a single film, Frankenstein Unbound (1990)With hundreds of movies to his credit, Roger Corman is one of the most prolific producers in the history of the film medium and one of the most successful--in his nearly six decades in the business, only about a dozen of his films have failed to turn a profit. Corman has been dubbed, among other things, "The King of the Cult Film" and "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and his filmography is packed with hundreds of remarkably entertaining films in addition to dozens of genuine cult classics. Corman has displayed an unrivaled eye for talent over the years--it could almost be said that it would be easier to name the top directors, actors, writers and creators in Hollywood who DIDN'T get their start with him than those who did. Among those he mentored are Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson, James Cameron, Robert De Niro, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante and Sandra Bullock. His influence on modern American cinema is almost incalculable. In 2009 he was honored with an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Tivia:
A running gag in Hollywood was that Corman could negotiate the production of a film on a pay phone, shoot the film in the booth, and finance it with the money in the change slot.Corman, as a director and/or producer, is credited with starting and/or mentoring the careers of many now-famous film directors, such as Jonathan Demme, Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, John Sayles, James Cameron, Joe Dante, and Martin Scorsese, and writers such as Robert Towne and John Sayles. He also discovered/gave early roles to then-unknown actors and actresses such as Jack Nicholson, Charles Bronson, Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Diane Ladd and Sandra Bullock.As an example of his influence in Hollywood, no Corman-produced movies were up for Oscars at the 1974 Academy Awards, but nearly every major category featured wins or nominations by "Corman School" graduates--those whom Corman had either started in the business or mentored early in their careers.His film The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) set a world's record for the shortest shooting schedule for a feature film...Two days!.Frequently has cameos or bit parts in the films of many successful filmmakers who got their start working for him, such as Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante and Francis Ford Coppola.If he had to shoot a film on location, he would always try to shoot a second film at that same location in order to spread out the costs.In the new decade of the 1960s, he decided that he wanted to do something that would advance his career. When American International offered him a sum of money to create another one of their low-budget black-and-white double features, he countered with an offer to use the same money to shoot a single feature in color and CinemaScope. American International finally agreed to this offer. It led to the production of House of Usher (1960). The gamble paid off and the film became a box-office hit and generated something that was unusual for an AIP release - critical praise. This was followed by what became known as Corman's "Poe series".Turned down the opportunity to direct Easy Rider (1969).In the early years of the American Releasing Corporation (later American International Pictures), he became one of their major sources of product for distribution. He would be given a sum of money and an advertising campaign (or somethimes just a title) and he would have to come up with the scripts and produce the films.He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7013 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on June 12, 1991.Although his films were notable for the flair and mobility with which he composed for widescreen, Corman revealed in "Cinema Retro" magazine (Issue #18) that he hadn't originally wanted to shoot his cult Poe series in Panavision: "I thought the anamorphic lens was better suited to westerns, whereas I was shooting in these contained little sets. But that was a decision made by AIP [American International Pictures]. They were convinced that just using that lens would not only make the pictures look bigger but sound bigger in the ads.".Attended Stanford University and Oxford University.As of 2017, during his career as an actor, he has appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Godfather Part II (1974), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Apollo 13 (1995). With the exception of the latter, the other two films are winners in the category.He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). He has also directed one film that is in the registry: House of Usher (1960).Tribute in the Memory of Film section at the Flanders International Film Festival in Ghent, Belgium. (2001)Society of Operating Cameramen (SOC) Recipient, Governors Award (CAMMY) (2004).Hosted AMC's Monsterfest during the last week of October 1999.In Attack of the Bat Monsters (1999), the character Francis Gordon, as played by Fred Ballard, is "noticeably patterned" after him.His paternal grandparents, Jacob Corman and Bessie Arst, were Russian Jewish immigrants. His mother was of German ancestry.Attended and graduated from Beverly Hills High School.Brother of producer Gene Corman.Discusses his movie House of Usher (1960) in the book "A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde" (McFarland & Co., 2010) by Tom Weaver.Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985." Pages 234-242. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.Father of Catherine Corman and uncle of Todd Corman.He produced four sci-fi movies with Starfield Independent Studios: Falling Fire (1997), Future Fear (1997), Shepherd (1998), and Shepherd II (1999).He made the film The Terror over a weekend using the actors and sets when the film The Raven was completed ahead of schedule.In 1998, he won the first Producer's Award ever given by the Cannes Film Festival.He made the film The Terror over a weekend using actors and sets from The Raven which had been completed ahead of schedule.Many of Corman's proteg��s have paid their mentor homage by awarding him cameos in films, such as in The Godfather Part II, The Silence of the Lambs, Apollo 13, and as Demme's 2008 film Rachel Getting Married. |
| Name: |
Roger Corman |
Type: |
Producer,Director,Actor (IMDB) |
| Area: |
All World |
Platform: |
IMDB |
| Category: |
|
Business scope: |
Producer,Director,Actor |
| Products for sale: |
Producer,Director,Actor |
| Last update: |
2024-07-01 02:53:00 |
| Height: |
6' 2' (1.88 m) |
| Biography: |
Roger William Corman was born April 5, 1926, in Detroit, Michigan. Initially following in his father\'s footsteps, Corman studied engineering at Stanford University but while in school, he began to lose interest in the profession and developed a grow |
| Trivia: |
A running gag in Hollywood was that Corman could negotiate the production of a film on a pay phone, shoot the film in the booth, and finance it with the money in the change slot.Corman, as a director and/or producer, is credited with starting and/or mentoring the careers of many now-famous film directors, such as Jonathan Demme, Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, John Sayles, James Cameron, Joe Dante, and Martin Scorsese, and writers such as Robert Towne and John Sayles. He also discovered/gave early roles to then-unknown actors and actresses such as Jack Nicholson, Charles Bronson, Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Diane Ladd and Sandra Bullock.As an example of his influence in Hollywood, no Corman-produced movies were up for Oscars at the 1974 Academy Awards, but nearly every major category featured wins or nominations by "Corman School" graduates--those whom Corman had either started in the business or mentored early in their careers.His film The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) set a world's record for the shortest shooting schedule for a feature film...Two days!.Frequently has cameos or bit parts in the films of many successful filmmakers who got their start working for him, such as Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante and Francis Ford Coppola.If he had to shoot a film on location, he would always try to shoot a second film at that same location in order to spread out the costs.In the new decade of the 1960s, he decided that he wanted to do something that would advance his career. When American International offered him a sum of money to create another one of their low-budget black-and-white double features, he countered with an offer to use the same money to shoot a single feature in color and CinemaScope. American International finally agreed to this offer. It led to the production of House of Usher (1960). The gamble paid off and the film became a box-office hit and generated something that was unusual for an AIP release - critical praise. This was followed by what became known as Corman's "Poe series".Turned down the opportunity to direct Easy Rider (1969).In the early years of the American Releasing Corporation (later American International Pictures), he became one of their major sources of product for distribution. He would be given a sum of money and an advertising campaign (or somethimes just a title) and he would have to come up with the scripts and produce the films.He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7013 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on June 12, 1991.Although his films were notable for the flair and mobility with which he composed for widescreen, Corman revealed in "Cinema Retro" magazine (Issue #18) that he hadn't originally wanted to shoot his cult Poe series in Panavision: "I thought the anamorphic lens was better suited to westerns, whereas I was shooting in these contained little sets. But that was a decision made by AIP [American International Pictures]. They were convinced that just using that lens would not only make the pictures look bigger but sound bigger in the ads.".Attended Stanford University and Oxford University.As of 2017, during his career as an actor, he has appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Godfather Part II (1974), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Apollo 13 (1995). With the exception of the latter, the other two films are winners in the category.He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). He has also directed one film that is in the registry: House of Usher (1960).Tribute in the Memory of Film section at the Flanders International Film Festival in Ghent, Belgium. (2001)Society of Operating Cameramen (SOC) Recipient, Governors Award (CAMMY) (2004).Hosted AMC's Monsterfest during the last week of October 1999.In Attack of the Bat Monsters (1999), the character Francis Gordon, as played by Fred Ballard, is "noticeably patterned" after him.His paternal grandparents, Jacob Corman and Bessie Arst, were Russian Jewish immigrants. His mother was of German ancestry.Attended and graduated from Beverly Hills High School.Brother of producer Gene Corman.Discusses his movie House of Usher (1960) in the book "A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde" (McFarland & Co., 2010) by Tom Weaver.Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985." Pages 234-242. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.Father of Catherine Corman and uncle of Todd Corman.He produced four sci-fi movies with Starfield Independent Studios: Falling Fire (1997), Future Fear (1997), Shepherd (1998), and Shepherd II (1999).He made the film The Terror over a weekend using the actors and sets when the film The Raven was completed ahead of schedule.In 1998, he won the first Producer's Award ever given by the Cannes Film Festival.He made the film The Terror over a weekend using actors and sets from The Raven which had been completed ahead of schedule.Many of Corman's proteg��s have paid their mentor homage by awarding him cameos in films, such as in The Godfather Part II, The Silence of the Lambs, Apollo 13, and as Demme's 2008 film Rachel Getting Married. |
| Trademarks: |
Distinctive clipped, deliberate and articulate way of speaking
Directs horror/sci-fi films, often low-budget "homages" to big-budget blockbusters |
| Quotes: |
In science-fiction films, the monster should always be bigger than the leading lady.
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<hr>
I think there is always a political undercurrent in my films. With the exception of The Intruder (1962), I tried not to put it on the surface.
<br />
<hr>
All my films have been concerned simply with man as a social animal.
<br />
<hr>
I've never made the film I wanted to make. No matter what happens, it never turns out exactly as I hoped.
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<hr>
[on his first job in the film industry, looking through material that might be turned into movies] I was a reader at 20th Century Fox, and I'd only been there a few months, and the story editor called me in and said: "Roger, you have never given a positive analysis of anything we've ever given you". And I said: "That's because I'm the youngest guy here and you give me all the rotten stuff. Give me something that's good and I'm perfectly willing to praise it". |
| Salaries: |
Frankenstein Unbound (1990) - $1,000,000
<br />
<hr>
Highway Dragnet (1954) - $3,500 |
| Job title: |
Producer,Director,Actor |
| Others works: |
Wrote the foreword for "Radio, TV, Mother Earth and Me: Memoirs of a Hollywood Life" by Joel Rapp (BearManor Media).
(1968) Unsold pilot: Co-produced a pilot for an action series for ABC called "What's in It for Harry" about a to |
| Spouse: |
Julie Corman (December 23, 1970 - present) (4 children) |
| Children: |
Catherine Corman |
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