Joel Schumacher, director of two Batman films along with movies such as St Elmo’s Fire and The Lost Boys, has died aged 80 from cancer, his representatives have said.
Born in New York in 1939, Schumacher began working in the fashion industry before deciding he wanted to pursue a career in film.
He attended the Parsons School of Design at New School University, and the Fashion Institute of Technology. He paid for school by designing clothing and packaging for Revlon, and by working as a window dresser at Bendel’s department store.
He told The Independent in 1993: “It was very progressive, and so we were able to do shocking, interesting, exciting windows… But my favourite was, I got a piece of shatterproof glass the same size as the windows, backed it up to the real glass and then smashed it, so that from the street it looked like the whole store had been broken into. I had all the mannequins cowering in a corner. It was fun.”
Schumacher worked as a costume designer on Woody Allen’s 1973 movie Sleeper and Interiors (1978). He was also a production designer on the 1974 disaster film Killer Bees.
Schumacher’s director credits include the feature film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, Flatliners, and Phone Booth starring Colin Farrell.
He later took over the Batman franchise from Tim Burton, first with 1995’s Batman Forever starring Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey and Nicole Kidman. The movie grossed more than $300 million worldwide.
His second and final Batman film was the much-maligned Batman and Robin, starring George Clooney as Batman and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the villain, Mr Freeze.
Schumacher’s take on the movie was considerably more camp than Burton’s famously dark productions. Schumacher, who was gay, received a backlash from some critics for the supposed homoerotic elements he introduced to the relationship between Batman and Robin. In 2006, Clooney said he had played Batman as gay.
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Actor, comedian and entertainer Roy Hudd died 16 March at the age of 83.
Hudd’s death was confirmed by his agent.
“We are sad to announce the passing of the much-loved and amazingly talented Roy Hudd OBE,” his agent’s statement read.
“After a short illness, Roy passed away peacefully on Sunday 15 March, with his wife Debbie at his side.
Hudd found fame as a comedian, before transitioning into radio and screen acting. He hosted the BBC Radio 2 satire The News Huddlines from 1975 until 2001, and voiced Max Quordlepleen in the original radio production of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
On television he starred in Dennis Potter’s acclaimed mini-series Lipstick on Your Collar, and made appearances on Coronation Street, Ashes to Ashes and Call the Midwife.
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“She had some medical problems last fall and our best guess at this point until further testing is complete is that they had resurfaced. Please respect her name and family before sharing information that did not come directly from here.”
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26/45 Roy Hudd
Actor, comedian and entertainer Roy Hudd died 16 March at the age of 83.
Hudd’s death was confirmed by his agent.
“We are sad to announce the passing of the much-loved and amazingly talented Roy Hudd OBE,” his agent’s statement read.
“After a short illness, Roy passed away peacefully on Sunday 15 March, with his wife Debbie at his side.
Hudd found fame as a comedian, before transitioning into radio and screen acting. He hosted the BBC Radio 2 satire The News Huddlines from 1975 until 2001, and voiced Max Quordlepleen in the original radio production of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
On television he starred in Dennis Potter’s acclaimed mini-series Lipstick on Your Collar, and made appearances on Coronation Street, Ashes to Ashes and Call the Midwife.
Stuart C Wilson/Getty Images
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Lyle Waggoner died on 17 March after battling an illness at the age of 84. He was best known for his roles on The Carol Burnett Show and Wonder Woman.
Getty Images
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Alli Harvey/Getty Images
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Disney + / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
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Getty
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Getty Images
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The actor and Bollywood icon Irrfan Khan died on 29 April at the age of 53.
Khan was hospitalised in Mumbai after suffering a kidney infection. He had been fighting infeneuroendocrine cancer since 2018.
In a statement, a spokesperson said: “It’s saddening that this day, we have to bring forward the news of him passing away. Irrfan was a strong soul, someone who fought till the very end and always inspired everyone who came close to him.”
Khan appeared in films including The Warrior (2001), Life of Pi (2012), Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for DIFF
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The US singer/songwriter Cady Groves died on 2 April at the age of 30.
Groves’ death was confirmed by her brother as being a result of natural causes, following the spreading of “twisted misinformation” about her death.
“The medical examiner has completed [an] autopsy and there was no indication of foul play or self harm. Simply put, Cady Groves died of natural causes.
“She had some medical problems last fall and our best guess at this point until further testing is complete is that they had resurfaced. Please respect her name and family before sharing information that did not come directly from here.”
Groves was best known for her singles “This Little Girl” and “Oil and Water”.
Vel Records
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PA
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AFP/Getty
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However, in a 2019 interview with Variety, Schumacher denied adding any gay subtext to the film.
“If I wasn’t gay, they would never say those things,” he said. “This all started way before me. Long before I came along, someone wrote a whole thing about what the real message of fairy tales and children’s stories are.
“Snow White was all about having bad stepmothers. And Batman and Robin are two homosexual men living in a cave, living together. There’s always been this thing about Batman and Robin being gay.”
Schumacher was recognised for his early spotting of young talent; among the now-famous faces he cast in his projects were Matthew McConaughey, Julia Roberts, Farrell and Keifer Sutherland.
In 2013, he directed two episodes of House of Cards.
