Los Angeles — Roger Corman, the “King of the Bs” who helped produce low-budget classics like “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and handed many of Hollywood’s most famous actors and directors their first breaks, has died. He was 98.

Corman died on Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, California, according to a statement issued Saturday by his wife and children.

“He was generous, open-hearted, and kind to all those who knew him,” the statement stated. “When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that.'”

Starting in 1955, Corman produced and directed hundreds of B-movies, including “Black Scorpion,” “Bucket of Blood,” and “Bloody Mama.” He was a fantastic talent judge, hiring promising directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, James Cameron, and Martin Scorsese. Corman was presented with an honorary Academy Award in 2009.

“There are many constraints connected with working on a low budget, but at the same time there are certain opportunities,” Corman stated in a 2007 documentary about Val Lewton, the 1940s filmmaker of “Cat People” and other underground masterpieces.

Roger Corman, Hollywood Mentor And ‘King Of The Bs,’ Dies At 98

“You may gamble a little more. You are welcome to experiment. “You must find a more creative way to solve a problem or present a concept,” he explained.

Corman’s films may be traced back to the 1970s when Hollywood peaked.

Jack Nicholson made his cinematic debut as the titular character in “The Cry Baby Killer,” a 1958 Corman quickie, and continued to work with the company on biker, horror, and action films, writing and producing others. Other performers who began their careers with Corman films included Robert De Niro, Bruce Dern, and Ellen Burstyn.

Peter Fonda’s participation in “The Wild Angels” foreshadowed his own iconic biker film, “Easy Rider,” which co-starred Nicholson and another Corman alum, Dennis Hopper. “Boxcar Bertha,” starring Barbara Hershey and David Carradine, was one of Scorsese’s early films.

Corman’s B-movie directors were given small budgets and frequently told to complete their films in as little as five days. When Howard, who went on to win an Oscar for best director for “A Beautiful Mind,” requested an extra half-day to reshoot a sequence for “Grand Theft Auto” in 1977, Corman informed him, “Ron, you can come back if you want, but nobody else will be there.”

“Roger Corman was my first boss, my lifelong mentor, and my inspiration. Roger was one of the greatest innovators in film history,” Gale Ann Hurd, whose famous producing accomplishments include the “Terminator” film franchise, “The Abyss,” and “The Walking Dead” television series, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Initially, only drive-ins and specialty theaters would show Corman films, but national chains gave in as youngsters began to flock. Corman’s films were unusually candid about sex and drugs at the time, such as his 1967 movie “The Trip,” an explicit story about LSD written by Nicholson and starring Fonda and Hopper.

Meanwhile, he found a profitable sideline releasing renowned foreign films in the United States, including Ingmar Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers,” Federico Fellini’s “Amarcord,” and Volker Schlondorff’s “The Tin Drum.” The latter two received Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film.

Corman began his career as a messenger boy for Twentieth Century Fox before becoming a plot analyst. After briefly leaving the company to study English literature at Oxford University, he returned to Hollywood and began his career as a film producer and director.

Despite his frugal tendencies, Corman maintained positive relationships with his directors, saying he never dismissed one because “I wouldn’t want to inflict that humiliation.”

Roger Corman, Hollywood Mentor And ‘King Of The Bs,’ Dies At 98

Years later, some of his old underlings repaid his goodwill. Coppola cast him in “The Godfather, Part II,” Jonathan Demme put him in “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia,” and Howard cast him in “Apollo 13.”

Most of Corman’s films were swiftly forgotten by all except the most devoted fans. A rare exception was 1960’s Little Shop of Horrors, which starred a violent plant that ate humans and starred Nicholson in a minor but notable role as a pain-loving dental patient. It sparked a long-running theater musical and a 1986 musical adaptation starring Steve Martin, Bill Murray, and John Candy.

In 1963, Corman began a film series based on Edgar Allan Poe’s works. The most prominent was “The Raven,” which starred Nicholson with renowned horror actors Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone. Corman directed the horror spoof on a rare three-week timetable, and it received positive reviews, which was unusual for his films. The Library of Congress determined that another Poe adaption, “House of Usher,” was worthy of preservation.

“It was a privilege to know him. He was an excellent friend. “He shaped my childhood with science fiction movies and Edgar Allen Poe epics,” John Carpenter, director of “Halloween,” “The Thing,” and other great horror and action flicks, told X. “I’ll miss you, Roger.”

Near the end of his life, Karloff appeared in another Corman-backed film, the 1968 thriller “Targets,” which marked Peter Bogdanovich’s directorial debut.

Corman’s success led to bids from major studios, and he directed “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” and “Von Richthofen and Brown” on conventional budgets. Both were disappointments, and he attributed their failure to front-office influence.

Roger Corman, Hollywood Mentor And ‘King Of The Bs,’ Dies At 98

Roger William Corman was born in Detroit and raised in Beverly Hills, but “not in the affluent section,” as he once stated. He graduated from Stanford University with an engineering degree and moved to Hollywood after serving in the Navy for three years.

Following his time at Oxford, he worked as a television stagehand and literary agent before discovering his life’s profession.

In 1964, he married Julie Halloran, a UCLA graduate and producer.

Catherine, Roger, Brian, and Mary are the four children he left behind along with his wife, Julie.

SOURCE – (AP)

Malmö, Sweden – Nemo, a Swiss singer, won the 68th Eurovision Song Contest early Sunday with “The Code,” an operatic pop-rap hymn to her quest to embrace a nongender identity.

Switzerland’s contender defeated Croatian musician Baby Lasagna for the title by receiving the most points from national juries and fans worldwide. Nemo, 24, is the first nonbinary winner of the tournament, which has long been regarded as a safe haven for the LGBT community. Nemo is also the first Swiss winner since Celine Dion, a Canadian singer who competed under the Swiss flag in 1988.

“Thank you so much,” Nemo remarked shortly after midnight when the results of Saturday’s final were announced. I hope this contest can live up to its promise and continue to stand for peace and dignity for every person.”

Switzerland’s Nemo Wins 68th Eurovision Song Contest After Event Roiled By Protests Over War In Gaza

At a post-victory press conference, Nemo stated his satisfaction in accepting the medal for “people who are daring to be themselves and people who need to be heard and understood.” “We need more compassion and empathy.”

Nemo’s victory in the Swedish city of Malmo came after a traumatic year for the pan-continental pop contest, which witnessed significant street protests against Israel’s participation, turning the feelgood musical festival into a chaotic pressure cooker overshadowed by the conflict in Gaza.

Hours before the final, Dutch contestant Joost Klein was kicked out of the competition after a backstage brawl that authorities were investigating.

Nemo — full name Nemo Mettler — defeated finalists from 24 other countries, all performing in front of thousands of live audience members and an estimated 180 million viewers worldwide. Each contestant had three minutes to combine popular tunes and eye-popping splendor into performances that would win the hearts of spectators. Musical styles included rock, disco, techno, rap, and mashups of other genres.

Eden Golan, an Israeli singer who spent Eurovision week in Malmo under strict security, ascended the stage to a wall of sound – boos and applause — to perform the power ballad “Hurricane.” Despite the protests, Golan climbed the odds table throughout the week and finished fifth, trailing only Nemo, Baby Lasagna, Ukrainian combo alyona alyona & Jerry Heil, and French artist Slimane.

Eurovision officials forced a change to the song’s original title, “October Rain” – an apparent reference to the Oct. 7 Hamas strike that killed over 1,200 people in Israel and sparked the Gaza conflict.

The show was typical Eurovision fare, with Estonia’s 5Miinust x Puuluup performing a pop-zombie folk hybrid, Greece’s Marina Satti and Armenia’s Ladaniva performing folk-inflected power pop, and Finland’s Windows95man performing goofy 1990s nostalgia, emerging from a giant onstage egg wearing very little clothing.

Switzerland’s Nemo Wins 68th Eurovision Song Contest After Event Roiled By Protests Over War In Gaza

Britain’s Olly Alexander performed the peppy dance single “Dizzy,” Ireland’s gothic Bambie Thug summoned a demon onstage and brought a screaming coach to Malmo, and Spain’s Nebulossa bravely reclaimed a term used as a slur on women in “Zorra.”

On Saturday, thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through Sweden’s third-largest city, which has a large Muslim population, demanding a boycott of Israel and a cease-fire in the seven-month Gaza war, which has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

Several hundred people gathered outside the Malmo Arena before the final, some shouting “shame” at arriving music fans and clashing with police who were obstructing their path. Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg was one among those led away by police.

Klein, the Dutch artist, was removed from the competition after a female production crew member filed a complaint, according to the European Broadcasting Union, the competition’s organizer. The 26-year-old Dutch musician and rapper’s song “Europapa” has been a hit with bookmakers and fans.

Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, one of dozens of public broadcasters that collectively sponsor and broadcast the tournament, said Klein was filmed without authorization as he exited the stage following Thursday’s semifinal and made a “threatening movement” toward the camera.

Switzerland’s Nemo Wins 68th Eurovision Song Contest After Event Roiled By Protests Over War In Gaza

The broadcaster stated that Klein did not touch the camera or the camera operator, and that his dismissal was “disproportionate.”

Tensions were obvious in the hours preceding the final. At the start of the final dress rehearsal, several artists were missing from the Olympic-style artists’ entry; however, they all appeared in the final.

Several competitors mentioned peace or love at the end of their performances, including France’s Slimane, who stated: “United by music for love and peace.”

Nemo described the Eurovision experience as “really intense and not just pleasant all the way.”

SOURCE – (AP)

A new generation may learn how to paint happy trees and create happy accidents thanks to a TV series that teaches the Bob Ross painting approach and features previously unseen works by the prolific artist.

Before dying of cancer in 1995, Ross had finished seven works for “The Joy of Painting” season 32.

Bob Ross’ Legacy Carries On With The New ‘The Joy Of Painting’ Series.

“He was so sick, but he was still working on his next series so he could keep going,” said Joan Kowalski, president of Bob Ross Inc. Her parents, Annette and Walt Kowalski, launched the company alongside Ross.

Those works had been held for nearly 30 years. Nicholas Hankins, a certified Bob Ross instructor, studied those seven paintings and painted them from scratch on camera in “The Joy of Painting with Nicholas Hankins: Bob Ross’ Unfinished Season,” which premiered this spring in some regions on American Public Television. Some episodes are available on the PBS website.

The ability to “take these paintings and do what Bob ultimately wanted done with them, (to) have them out in the world making people happy is gratifying,” Hankins said recently via Zoom. He teaches at the Bob Ross Art Workshop and Gallery, about 15 miles from Daytona Beach, Florida, and handles instructor certification. Hankins also incorporates six of his paintings into the new “Joy of Painting,” recorded and produced at WDSC-TV Daytona State College.

Bob Ross’ Legacy Carries On With The New ‘The Joy Of Painting’ Series.

“I think that Bob would be incredibly proud of how we’re doing this,” stated Kowalski. “There aren’t many situations that present us with the question of what we should do. Bob was extremely explicit about how he intended this whole thing to unfold in the future.”

Hankins is a familiar face among Ross enthusiasts. His educational films on the Bob Ross YouTube channel received upwards of 300,000 views before the television concept was even considered.

Kowalski is interested in the online reactions to Hankin’s videos. “People notice that Nick is not at all trying to be Bob, and he’s delivering naturally as himself and yet there’s still that same sort of feeling you get watching Bob.”

The pandemic sparked a boom of interest in Bob Ross as people stayed home and sought ways to pass the time. With so many distractions, it can feel like there need to be more hours in the day to unwind and rest. If viewers don’t want to learn how to paint, Hankins thinks his 30-minute “Joy of Painting” episodes will help them relax as the originals did.

“I hope I can carry that part of the legacy on,” he stated. “I want to create an environment in which people will come in, spend half an hour, and simply switch off the world. “We need it right now.”

Bob Ross’ Legacy Carries On With The New ‘The Joy Of Painting’ Series.

According to Kowalski, people used to tell Ross “all the time” that they would fall asleep during his programs, but he didn’t mind. “He said, ‘I love hearing that you’ve never watched a full episode of me.'”

Hankins recommends basic painting supplies such as oil colors, an easel, canvas, and brushes. “But if they’re just watching, all they need is a tall glass of iced tea. That was Bob’s thing,” he continued, “get some iced tea, kick back, and watch.”

SOURCE – (AP)