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George A. Romero Tribute Page
George Andrew Romero (born February 4, 1940) is an American director, writer, editor and actor. He is best known for his Dead Series, a tetralogy of horror movies (with a fifth installment in production as of October 2006) featuring a zombie apocalypse theme and a commentary on modern society.
FILMOGRAPHY
DIRECTOR:
2007 -
DIARY OF THE DEAD
2005 -
LAND OF THE DEAD
2000 -
BRUISER
1993 -
THE DARK HALF
1990 -
TWO EVIL EYES
(episode "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar")
1988 -
MONKEY SHINES
1985 -
DAY OF THE DEAD
1982 -
CREEPSHOW
1981 -
KNIGHTRIDERS
1978 -
DAWN OF THE DEAD
1977 -
MARTIN
1973 -
THE CRAZIES
1972 -
HUNGRY WIVES / SEASON OF THE WITCH
1971 -
THERE'S ALWAYS VANILLA
1968 -
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
DIRECTOR (TV):
1974 -
O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose
1973 -
The Winners (unknown episode)
ACTOR:
Land of the Dead (2005) (voice) (uncredited) - Puppeteer
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) (uncredited) - FBI Agent in Memphis
Lot swierkowej gesi (1986) - Gromero
Day of the Dead (1985) (uncredited) - Zombie with scarf
Dawn of the Dead (1978) (uncredited) - TV Director
Martin (1977) - Father Howard
There's Always Vanilla (1971) (voice) - Beer Comercial Director
Night of the Living Dead (1968) (uncredited) - Washington reporter
HIMSELF:
Dead On: The Life and Cinema of George A. Romero (2008)
Son of Horror Business (2007)
"30 Even Scarier Movie Moments" (2006) (mini) TV Series
50 Films to See Before You Die (2006) (TV)
After Effects: Memories of Pittsburgh Filmmaking (2005) (V)
"Ireland AM" (1 episode, 2005)
Undead Again: The Making of 'Land of the Dead' (2005)
Land of the Dead: Bringing the Dead to Life (2005) (V)
Digging Up the Dead: The Lost Films of George A. Romero (2005) (V)
"Artworks Scotland" .... Himself (interviewed) (1 episode, 2005)
Michael Powell (2005) TV Episode (interviewed)
Dream of the Dead: George Romero (2005) (TV)
Make Your Own Damn Movie! (2005) (V)
05 Spaceys (2005) (TV)
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (2005)
When Shaun Met George (2005) (V)
Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy (2005) (V)
"The 100 Scariest Movie Moments" (2004) (mini) TV Series
The Dead Will Walk (2004) (V)
Behind the House: Anatomy of the Zombie Movement (2004) (V)
Tales from the Crypt: From Comic Books to Television (2004) (TV)
The Many Days of 'Day of the Dead' (2003) (V)
Two Masters' Eyes (2003) (V)
Masters of Horror (2002) (TV)
The American Nightmare (2000)
Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror (2000) (TV) (interviewee)
The Dead Walk: Remaking a Classic (1999) (V)
"The Directors" (1 episode)
David Cronenberg and the Cinema of the Extreme (1997) (TV)
"A-Z of Horror" (1997) (mini) TV Series
The Anatomy of Horror (1995) (TV)
Night of the Living Dead: 25th Anniversary Documentary (1993) (V)
Heartstoppers: Horror at the Movies (1992) (TV)
"The Incredibly Strange Film Show" (1 episode)
Drive-In Madness! (1987)
Stephen King's World of Horror (1986) (TV)
Scream Greats, Vol. 1: Tom Savini, Master of Horror Effects (1986) (V)
Document of the Dead (1985)
He was born in New York City to a Cuban American father and a
Lithuanian-American mother. Romero attended Pittsburgh's
Carnegie Mellon University. After he dropped out of the university,
he began his career shooting short films and commercials. One of
his early commercial films, a segment for Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
in which Mr. Rogers underwent a tonsillectomy, inspired Romero
to go into the horror film business. He and friends formed Image
Ten Productions in the late 1960s, and they chipped in roughly $10,000
apiece to produce what became one of the most celebrated horror films
of all time: Night of the Living Dead (1968). The movie, directed by
Romero and co-written with John A. Russo, became a cult classic
and a defining moment for modern horror cinema. Romero updated
his original screenplay and executive produced the remake of Night
of the Living Dead directed by Tom Savini for Columbia / Tristar in
1990. Romero's films during the years after 1968's Night of the Living Dead were less popular: There's Always Vanilla (1971), Jack's Wife / Season of the Witch (1972) and The Crazies (1973). Though not as acclaimed as Night of the Living Dead or some of his later work, these films have
his signature social commentary while dealing with primarily horror-related
issues at the microscopic level. The Crazies, dealing with a biospill that
induces an epidemic of homicidal madness, and the critically acclaimed
arthouse success Martin (1977), a film that strikingly deconstructs the
vampire myth, were the two standout efforts during this period. Like
almost all of his films, they were shot in or around Romero's favorite
city of Pittsburgh.
In 1978, Romero returned to the zombie genre with Dawn of the Dead (1978). Shot on a budget of just $500,000 (the producers gave a false figure of $1.5 million to help their negotiating position with distributors), the film earned over $55 million worldwide and was named one of the top cult films by Entertainment Weekly in 2003. Romero made a third entry in his "Dead Series" with Day of the Dead (1985), which was less popular at the box office, but has since gone on to gain a cult following thanks to VHS and DVD releases.
During this period, Romero also made Knightriders (1981), another festival favorite about a group of modern-day jousters who reenact tournaments on motorcycles, and the successful Creepshow (1982), written by Stephen King, an anthology of tongue-in-cheek tales modeled after 1950s horror comics.
Throughout the latter half of the 1980s and 1990s, Romero made various films, including Monkey Shines (1988) about a killer helper monkey, Two Evil Eyes (1990), an Edgar Allan Poe adaptation in collaboration with Dario Argento, the Stephen King adaptation The Dark Half (1992) and Bruiser (2000), about a man whose face becomes a blank mask.
Romero had a cameo appearance in Jonathan Demme's Academy
Award-winning The Silence of the Lambs in 1991 as one of Hannibal Lecter's jailers.In 1998, Romero returned to the horror scene, this time with a commercial.
He directed the live action commercial shot (promoting the videogame
Resident Evil 2) which was shot in Tokyo, Japan. The 30-second advertisement
was live action and featured the game's two main characters, Leon S.
Kennedy and Claire Redfield, fighting a horde of zombies while in
Raccoon City's Police Station. The project was a natural for Romero,
as the Resident Evil series has been heavily influenced by Romero's
"Dead" projects. The commercial was rather popular and was released in
the weeks before the game's actual release, although a contract dispute
prevented the commercial from being shown outside Japan. Capcom
was so impressed with Romero's work, it was strongly indicated that
Romero would direct the first Resident Evil film. He initially declined,
stating in an interview, "I don't wanna make another film with zombies
in it, and I couldn't make a movie based on something that ain't mine",
although in later years he reconsidered and wrote a script for the first movie. While many were impressed with the script (which garnered positive reviews), it was eventually rejected in favor of Paul W.S. Anderson's treatment.
Universal Studios produced and released a remake of Dawn of the Dead in 2004, with which Romero was not involved. Later that year, Romero kicked off the DC Comics title Toe Tags with a six-issue miniseries titled The Death of Death. Based on an unused script that Romero had previously written as a sequel to his "Dead Trilogy", the comic miniseries concerns Damien, an intelligent zombie who remembers his former life, struggling to find his identity as he battles armies of both the living and the dead. Typical of a Romero zombie tale, the miniseries includes ample supply of both gore and social commentary (dealing particularly here with corporate greed and terrorism - ideas he would also explore in his next film in the series, Land of the Dead). Romero has stated that the miniseries is set in the same kind of world as his "Dead" films, but featured other locales besides Pittsburgh, where the majority of his films take place.
Romero, who still lives in Pittsburgh, completed a fourth "Dead" movie, Land of the Dead (formerly known as Dead Reckoning), in Toronto, Canada, with a $16 million production budget (the highest of the four 'dead'
movies). Actors Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento and John Leguizamo star in
the film. It was released on June 24, 2005 to generally positive reviews.
Some critics have seen social commentary in much of Romero's work. They
view Night of the Living Dead as a film made in reaction to the turbulent
1960s, Dawn of the Dead as a satire on consumerism, Day of the Dead as
a study of the conflict between science and the military, and Land of the Dead as an examination of class conflict.
Romero is married to Christine Forrest, whom he met on the set of Season of the Witch. They have two children together.
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