Joel Schumacher passes away at 80
Tributes pour in for the filmmaker who had helmed films like Batman, StElmo’sFire,FallingDown and many others
C ostume designer-turned director Joel Schumacher, known for helming films including St Elmo’s Fire, Falling Down as well as two Batman movies, has died after a yearlong battle with cancer, his publicists said. The native New Yorker passed away on Monday morning. He was 80, reported Deadline. Schumacher started off as a costume designer for 1970s films such as Woody Allen directorials Sleeper and Interiors, along with Blume in Love, The Prisoner of Second Avenue and The Last of Sheila. He also was a production designer on the 1974 telefilm Killer Bees. Schumacher then turned writer in the late ’70s on Sparkle, Car Wash and film adaptation of Broadway musical The Wiz and made his directorial debut in 1981 with sci-fi comedy The Incredible Shrinking Woman.
The director, considered as one of the most popular Hollywood storytellers, also has titles such as Flawless, DC Cab, The Lost Boys, Falling Down
and John Grisham adaptations The Client and A Time to Kill to his credit. From Val Kilmer, George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Batman films, Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage in Trespass, Susan Sarandon in The Client to Kiefer Sutherland in The Lost Boys, Schumacher directed many such Hollywood A-listers. He is also credited for nurturing rising talent at the time like Matthew McConaughey ( A Time To
Kill), Colin Farrell ( Phone The Booth),
Demi Moore and Rob Lowe ( St Elmo's Fire), Gerard Butler ( Phantom of the
Opera), among others.
Many of Schumacher's collaborators remembered the one-of-a-kind director as a friend, visionary and someone who launched careers of several Hollywood stars. McConaughey said he owes his career to the filmmaker, who gave him the lead role in A Time to
Kill, at a time when he was “relatively unknown”. “Joel not only took a chance on me, he fought for me. Knowing the studio might never approve a relatively unknown like myself for the lead in A Time to Kill, he set up a secret screen test for me on a Sunday morning in a small unknown studio because as he stated, ‘Even if you do great, you may not get the part, so I don’t want the industry to ever think you screen tested and DID NOT get the job’,” the Oscar winner said. Moore said working with Schumacher was a “pivotal moment” in not only her career but also to recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. Cage said he is “very upset” about Schumacher’s death. Batman Forever star Jim Carrey gave tributes to Schumacher on Twiter: “He saw deeper things in me than most and he lived a wonderfully creative and heroic life. I am grateful to have had him as a friend.” —PTI