Roger Corman

Photo of Roger Corman

Biography

Working outside the studio system, Corman established a record as one of the most commercially successful filmmakers in Hollywood history, having had about 90 percent of his films turn a profit. Though he had made over 200 films in his career, there were a few that stood out as classics of their genre, including "Not of This Earth" (1957), "The Little Shop of Horrors" (1960), "The Raven" (1963), "Death Race 2000" (1975) and "Battle Beyond the …
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Job Title

Actor, Director, Producer, Writer, Executive, Other

Born

April 5, 1926

Career Milestones

Joined 20th Century-Fox as messenger

Made a series of adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories starring Vincent Price, including "The House of Usher/The Fall of the House of Usher" (1960), "The Pit and the Pendulum" (1961), "Premature Burial" (1962), "Tales of Terror" (1962) "The Raven" (1963), "The Masque of the Red Death" (1964) and "The Tomb of Ligeia" (1964)

1949

Became story analyst for Fox

1954

First film as co-producer (also co-story), "Highway Dragnet"

1954

First film as producer for own production company (Palo Alto), "Monster from the Ocean Floor"

1954

First film distributed by American International Pictures, "The Fast and the Furious"

1955

Feature directing debut (also producer), "Five Guns West"

1960

Directed the original version of "The Little Shop of Horrors" in only two days

1962

Directed William Shatner in "The Intruder," based on a short story by Charles Beaumont

1971

Retired from directing to concentrate on production and distribution through his company New World Pictures

1974

Acted in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather Part II" as one of the senators on the congressional committee

1975

Through his company New World Pictures, produced and distributed "Death Race 2000"

1983

Founded Concorde/New Horizons, a production company

1983

Sold New World Pictures for $16.5 million (January) which had become the largest independent production and distribution company in the US

1990

Returned to directing with the poorly received, "Frankenstein Unbound"

Awards

1970

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety or Musical Program in Gas-s-s-s!

1996

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Career Achievement Award