Wissenswertes

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.

His film Kleiner Laden voller Schrecken (1960) set a world's record for the shortest shooting schedule for a feature film...two days!.

As an example of his influence in Hollywood, no Corman-produced films 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.

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.

Turned down the opportunity to direct Easy Rider (1969).

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 Die Verfluchten (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".

In the early years of the American Releasing Corporation (later renamed 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 sometimes just a title) and he would have to come up with the scripts and produce the films.

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 had not originally wanted to shoot his cult Poe film 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.".

Appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: Der Pate 2 (1974) and Das Schweigen der Lämmer (1991).

Attended Stanford University and Oxford University.

He has appeared in three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Der Pate 2 (1974), Das Schweigen der Lämmer (1991) and Apollo 13 (1995). He has also directed one film that is in the registry: Die Verfluchten (1960).

As of 2017, during his career as an actor, he has appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award: Der Pate 2 (1974), Das Schweigen der Lämmer (1991) and Apollo 13 (1995). With the exception of the latter, the other two films were winners in that category.

He was the son of Ann and William Corman. His paternal grandparents, Jacob Corman and Bessie Arst, were Russian Jewish immigrants. His maternal grandparents, Jozef/Joseph High/Chajewski and Clara Dolny/Dolney, were Polish (Catholic) immigrants.

In Attack of the Bat Monsters (1999), the character Francis Gordon, as played by Fred Ballard, is "noticeably patterned" after him.

Attended and graduated from Beverly Hills High School.

Society of Operating Cameramen (SOC) Recipient, Governors Award (CAMMY) (2004).

Hosted AMC's Monsterfest during the last week of October 1999.

He made The Terror - Schloß des Schreckens (1963) over one weekend using the actors and the sets from Der Rabe - Duell der Zauberer (1963) when it was completed ahead of schedule.

Ironically, director James Cameron started his film career as a set dresser and production designer on many of Corman's low-budget films, but would later go on to direct several of the most expensive films of their time, including Terminator 2: Tag der Abrechnung (1991), True Lies - Wahre Lügen (1994), Titanic (1997) and Avatar - Aufbruch nach Pandora (2009).

Brother of producer Gene Corman.

In 1998, he won the first Producer's Award ever given by the Cannes Film Festival.

Tribute in the Memory of Film section at the Flanders International Film Festival in Ghent, Belgium. (2001)

Discusses his film Die Verfluchten (1960) in the book "A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde" (McFarland & Co., 2010) by Tom Weaver.

Father of Catherine Corman and uncle of Todd Corman.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors Volume Two (1945-1985)," pages 234-242. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.

He produced four sci-fi films with Starfield Independent Studios: Falling Fire - Countdown zur Apokalypse (1997), Future Fear (1997), Shepherd - Der Weg zurück (1998), and Cybermaster (1999).

Known under various monikers such as "The King of the B's", "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he was known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film.

Mark Damon, co-star of Corman's film Die Verfluchten (1960), died three days after he did.

In 1964, Corman became the youngest filmmaker to have a retrospective at the Cinémathèque française, as well as in the British Film Institute and the Museum of Modern Art.

Wrote film reviews for "The Stanford Daily" while attending Stanford University.

Many of Corman's proteges have paid their mentor homage by awarding him cameos in their films such as Der Pate 2 (1974), Das Schweigen der Lämmer (1991), Apollo 13 (1995), and in Jonathan Demme's 2008 film "Rachel Getting Married.".

In 2009, Corman was sued by his children who claimed that they had been unfairly fired from the family production business after raising questions about the family trust.