George A. Romero

George A. Romero never set out to become a Hollywood figure; by all indications, though, he was very successful. The director of the groundbreaking "Living Dead" films was born February 4, 1940 ,in New York City to Ann (Dvorsky) and Jorge Romero. His father was born in Spain and raised in Cuba, and his mother was Lithuanian. He grew up in New York until attending the renowned Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. After graduation he began shooting mostly short films and commercials.

When discussing his influences, he has aid that the Universal horror classics made a strong impression on him and his favorite horror film as a child was The Thing from Another World (1951). However, the film he said made him want to be a director was The Red Shoes (1948). While discussing the directors who made a strong impression on him, he said that Orson Welles and Howard Hawks were his favorites, surpassing Alfred Hitchcock.

He passed away "peacefully in his sleep" while "listening to the score of The Quiet Man (1952), one his all-time favorite films.

At age 19, he worked briefly as a page-boy on the set of North by Northwest (1959). He later said he was unimpressed by Alfred Hitchcock's directing style while there, saying that it seemed mechanical and passionless. Coincidentally, Romero and North by Northwest (1959) co-star Martin Landau died one day apart.

He and his friends formed Image Ten Productions in the late 1960s and they all chipped in roughly $10,000 apiece to produce what became one of the most celebrated American horror films of all time: Night of the Living Dead (1968). Shot in black-and-white on a budget of just over $100,000, Romero's vision, combined with a solid script written by him and his "Image" co-founder John A.

Prior to Night of the Living Dead (1968) he was better known as an industrial filmmaker, who created TV commercials, promotional featurettes and industrial training films. One of his assignments was to shoot short films that were used on the television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968).

Russo (along with what was then considered an excess of gore), enabled the film to earn back far more than what it cost; it became a cult classic by the early 1970s and was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress of the United States in 1999.

Romero's next films were a little more low-key but less successful, including There's Always Vanilla (1971), The Crazies (1973), Season of the Witch (1972) (where he met future wife Christine Forrest) and Martin (1977). Though not as acclaimed as "Night of the Living Dead" or some of his later work, these films had his signature social commentary while dealing with issues--usually horror-related--at the microscopic level. Like almost all of his films, they were shot in, or around, Romero's favorite city of Pittsburgh.

His favorite of his own films, saying it's closest to the vision he had for it, is Martin (1977). He spent much of the time since his smash directorial debut, Night of the Living Dead (1968), trying to distance himself from the horror genre but has said the satisfying experience of creating "Martin" energized him to make Dawn of the Dead (1978), which would become his greatest financial and critical success.

In 1978 he returned to the zombie genre with the one film of his that would top the success of "Night of the Living Dead"--Dawn of the Dead (1978). He managed to divorce the franchise from Image Ten, which screwed up the copyright on the original and allowed the film to enter into public domain, with the result that Romero and his original investors were not entitled to any profits from the film's video releases. Shot in the Monroeville (PA) Mall during late-night hours, the film told the tale of four people who escape a zombie outbreak and lock themselves up inside what they think is paradise before the solitude makes them victims of their own, and a biker gang's, greed. Made on a budget of just $1.

After 1978, Romero and Savini teamed up many times. The success of "Dawn of the Dead" led to bigger budgets and better casts for the filmmaker.

Was originally set to direct two Stephen King stories that would later turn into television features: Salem's Lot (1979) and The Stand (1994).

The decline of Romero's career came in the late 1980s.

First was Knightriders (1981), where he first worked with an up-and-coming Ed Harris.

Then came perhaps his most Hollywood-like film, Creepshow (1982), which marked the first--but not the last--time Romero adapted a work by famed horror novelist Stephen King. With many major stars and big-studio distribution, it was a moderate success and spawned a sequel, which was also written by Romero.

His last widely-released film was the next "Dead" film, Day of the Dead (1985). Derided by critics, it did not take in much at the box office, either.

Originally set to direct Pet Sematary (1989), but when filming was delayed he dropped out and Tom Savini was given the opportunity to direct the film. Savini also eventually passed on it. Finally, Mary Lambert stepped in.

Even the Romero-penned/Tom Savini-directed remake of Romero's first film, Night of the Living Dead (1990), was a box-office failure. Pigeon-holed solely as a horror director and with his latest films no longer achieving the success of his earlier "Dead" films, Romero has not worked much since, much to the chagrin of his following.

His latest two efforts were The Dark Half (1993) (another Stephen King adaptation) and Bruiser (2000).

Was slated to direct a theatrical version of Stephen King's novel "The Stand", adapted for the screen by Rospo Pallenberg. The film never materialized. Instead, the novel was adapted into a television miniseries, The Stand (1994).

The 2002 Sight & Sound Greatest Films Poll (2002) listed his Top Ten films as The Brothers Karamazov (1958), Casablanca (1942), Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964), High Noon (1952), King Solomon's Mines (1950), North by Northwest (1959), The Quiet Man (1952), Repulsion (1965), Touch of Evil (1958), and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951).

5 million, the film earned over $40 million worldwide and was named one of the top cult films by Entertainment Weekly magazine in 2003. It also marked Romero's first work with brilliant make-up and effects artist Tom Savini.

Dawn of the Dead (2004), the remake of his movie Dawn of the Dead (1978), was released before the fourth part of his zombie series Land of the Dead (2005) was even filmed.

In 2005, 19 years after "Day of the Dead", with major-studio distribution he returned to his most famous series and horror sub-genre it created with Land of the Dead (2005), a further exploration of the destruction of modern society by the undead, that received generally positive reviews.

He directed two more "Dead" films, Diary of the Dead (2007) and Survival of the Dead (2009).

Became a dual Canadian-American citizen and resided in Toronto, Ontario (2009).

He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6604 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on October 25, 2017.