Eugene Harold "Gene" Corman (September 24, 1927 – September 28, 2020) was an American film producer and agent. He was the younger brother of

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

with whom he collaborated on several occasions.

Biography

Corman moved with his family from Detroit to California in 1940, where he attended Beverly Hills High School and Stanford University. He graduated in 1948 and went to work in the mailroom at MCA, entering the film industry before his brother. Corman became an agent and vice president of MCA, representing such clients as

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture cont ...

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

Richard Conte Nicholas Peter Conte (March 24, 1910 – April 15, 1975), known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He was known for his starring roles in films noir and crime dramas during the 1940s and 1950s, including '' Call Northside ...

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

, and

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. He is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's ''The Lost Weekend'' (1945), which wo ...

. Corman also represented his brother negotiating the distribution deal for the latter's first film ''Monster from the Ocean Floor''. He died at his Beverley Hills Home on September 28, 2020.

Producer

Corman moved into producing in the late 1950s, making a number of movies with

Bernard L. Kowalski Bernard Louis Kowalski (August 2, 1929 – October 26, 2007) was an American film and television director of Polish descent, nominated for two Primetime Emmys. Selected filmography * ''Frontier'' (1956) Season 1, Episode 19 ''The Assassin' ...

and

Robert L. Lippert Robert Lenard Lippert (March 31, 1909 – November 16, 1976) was an American film producer and cinema chain owner. He was president and chief operating officer of Lippert Theatres, Affiliated Theatres and Transcontinental Theatres, all based in ...

as well as with his brother,

Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

. Corman brother films rarely took longer than two months to make; they formed Filmgroup Productions in 1959. He was known to test film titles out by informally surveying Hollywood high school students. During the 1960s he produced several films that his brother directed, including ''Tower of London'', ''The Premature Burial'', ''The Secret Invasion'', ''Target Harry'' and ''Von Richthofen and Brown''. In 1970, he and Roger co-founded "the hugely successful independent company New World Pictures" according to ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

''. During the early 1970s, Corman also had his own producing unit at

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

. He later became vice-president of

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...

. According to ''Filmink'' "One of the side effects of Roger Corman’s fame was the relegation of his producer brother Gene, to the shadows of film history. This was both unfair and unfortunate since Gene not only played a crucial, often overlooked part in his brother’s story, he had a fine career of his own." In 1982, he won the Outstanding Drama Special

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

for ''A Woman Called Golda''. Corman continued to work as a VP at Fox Television until retiring in 1990.

Filmography

*'' I Mobster'' (1958) *'' Hot Car Girl'' (1958) *''

Night of the Blood Beast ''Night of the Blood Beast'' is a 1958 American science fiction film, science-fiction horror film about a team of scientists who are stalked by an alien creature, which implants its embryos in an astronaut's body during a space flight. Produced ...

'' (1958) *'' Beast from the Haunted Cave'' (1959) *''

Attack of the Giant Leeches ''Attack of the Giant Leeches'' (originally to be called ''The Giant Leeches'') is an independently made, 1959 black-and-white science fiction film, science fiction-horror film, produced by Gene Corman and directed by Bernard L. Kowalski. It star ...

'' (1959) *''

Valley of the Redwoods ''Valley of the Redwoods'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by William Witney, written by Leo Gordon and Daniel Madison, and starring John Hudson, Lynette Bernay, Ed Nelson, Michael Forest, Robert Shayne and John Brinkley. It was releas ...

'' (1960) * ''

The Secret of the Purple Reef ''The Secret of The Purple Reef'' is a 1960 20th Century Fox CinemaScope DeLuxe Color film based on a short story by Dorothy Cottrell entitled "The Silent Reefs". It starred soon-to-be-famous actors Richard Chamberlain and Peter Falk. It is a Ca ...

'' (1960) *'' The Intruder'' (1962) *''

The Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

'' (1962) *''

The Secret Invasion ''The Secret Invasion'' is a 1964 American action war film directed by Roger Corman. It stars Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Edd Byrnes, Henry Silva, Mia Massini, and William Campbell. Appearing three years before '' The Dirt ...

'' (1964) *''

The Girls on the Beach ''The Girls on the Beach'' is a 1965 American beach party comedy film directed by William N. Witney and written by Sam Locke. The film stars Noreen Corcoran, Martin West, Linda Marshall, Steven Rogers, Ahna Capri and Aron Kincaid. The film wa ...

'' (1965) *''

Ski Party ''Ski Party'' is a 1965 American teen musical comedy film directed by Alan Rafkin and starring Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman. It was released by American International Pictures (AIP). ''Ski Party'' is considered as a beach party film spi ...

'' (1965) *''

Beach Ball A beach ball is an inflatable ball for beach and water games. Their large size and light weight require little effort to propel them. Beach balls became popular in the beach-themed films of the 1960s starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Ava ...

'' (1965) *''

Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...

'' (1967) *''

You Can't Win 'Em All ''You Can't Win 'Em All'' is a 1970 British-American war film, written by Leo Gordon (also an actor who appears in the film) and directed by Peter Collinson. It stars Tony Curtis, Charles Bronson and Michèle Mercier. The film is set at the ...

'' (1970) *''

Von Richthofen and Brown ''Von Richthofen and Brown'', alternatively titled ''The Red Baron'', is a 1971 American war film directed by Roger Corman and starring John Phillip Law and Don Stroud as Manfred von Richthofen and Roy Brown (RAF officer), Roy Brown. Although na ...

'' (1971) *'' Cool Breeze'' (1972) *'' Private Parts'' (1972) *''

Hit Man Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

'' (1972) *''

The Slams ''The Slams'' is a 1973 American action film directed by Jonathan Kaplan and starring Jim Brown. Plot Curtis Hook (Jim Brown) is caught by the police after a heist. In jail, Curtis has to deal with people who want to know where he stashed the loo ...

'' (1973) *''

I Escaped from Devil's Island ''I Escaped from Devil's Island'' is a 1973 exploitation film about an escape attempt from Devil's Island. Roger Corman and Gene Corman produced this grim adventure saga which was made to cash in on the release of '' Papillon''. Plot summary P ...

'' (1973) *''

Darktown Strutters ''Darktown Strutters'' is a 1975 blaxploitation musical comedy film from New World Pictures. Despite having mixed reviews at the time of its release, it has gained cult status over the years with praise from film director Quentin Tarantino. Ta ...

'' (1975) *''

Vigilante Force ''Vigilante Force'' is a 1976 American action film directed by George Armitage and starring Kris Kristofferson and Jan-Michael Vincent. The plot concerns a Vietnam War veteran and his buddies, who are hired by his brother and others in a small C ...

'' (1976) *'' F.I.S.T.'' (1978) *''

The Big Red One ''The Big Red One'' is a 1980 American epic war film written and directed by Samuel Fuller, and starring Lee Marvin alongside an ensemble supporting cast, including Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco, Kelly Ward, Siegfried Rau ...

'' (1980) *''

A Woman Called Golda ''A Woman Called Golda'' is a 1982 American made-for-television film biopic of Israeli Prime Minister of Israel, Prime Minister Golda Meir directed by Alan Gibson (director), Alan Gibson and starring Ingrid Bergman in what would become the fina ...

'' (1982) (TV movie) *'' Vital Parts'' (2001)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Corman, Gene 1927 births 2020 deaths Film producers from Michigan American talent agents American film production company founders Place of death missing