Joel Schumacher, who directed everyone from the Brat Pack to young vampires to Batman and Robin, has died.
The movie director, who had a home in Carpinteria, passed away Monday morning at his home in New York City after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 80.
The New York City native, who studied at Parsons the New School for Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, directed “St. Elmo’s Fire” (1985), which starred Brat Pack actors such as Montecito actor Rob Lowe. Others in the Brat Pack were Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore. Along with Mr. Lowe, they played Georgetown graduates dealing with the issues of love and life.
The movie and its theme song were both hits.
Mr. Schumacher succeeded with his next film, “The Lost Boys: (1987), about young vampires in a small California town. The film starred Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Feldman and Corey Haim.
Mr. Schumacher’s movies also included “Flatliners,” a successful 1990 horror thriller about medical students experimenting with life and death. It starred Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin.
And Mr. Schumacher directed Michael Douglas, the late Montecito star Kirk Douglas’ son, as a frustrated defense worker in “Falling Down” (1993).
Mr. Schumacher’s next film was “The Client” (1994), starring Susan Sarandon as a lawyer for an 11-year-old client who saw a murder. The client in the adaptation of a John Grisham novel was played by Brad Renfro.
Later, Mr. Schumacher was tapped to follow director Tim Burton, who brought Batman back to his Dark Knight roots in the acclaimed 1989 “Batman” movie starring Michael Keaton. After “Batman Returns” (1992), Mr. Burton and Mr. Keaton left the franchise, and another reboot came with Mr. Schumacher directing Val Kilmer as the caped crusader in “Batman Forever” (1995).
The movie introduced Chris O’Donnell as Robin and also starred Jim Carrey as the Riddler, Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face and Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian. The film was known for its emphasis on action and a lighter tone than Mr. Burton’s films.
Mr. Schumacher went on to direct “Batman Forever” (1997), this time starring George Clooney as Batman and introducing Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. Mr. O’Donnell returned as Robin. Future California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger played the icy villain, Mr. Freeze, and Uma Thurman was the equally villainous Poison Ivy.
Several years after “Batman Forever,” Mr. Schumacher directed the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “The Phantom of the Opera” (2004).
Accolades for Mr. Schumacher landed on social media Monday.
“#JoelSchumacher was the funniest, chicest, most hilarious director I ever worked with,” movie star Minnie Driver posted on Twitter. “Once, on set, an actress was complaining about me within earshot; how I was dreadfully over the top (I was).
“Joel barely looked up from his NYT+said ‘Oh Honey, no one ever paid to see under the top.’”
email: dmason@newspress.com
