Joel Schumacher

Early life and education

Joel T. Schumacher was born on August 29, 1939, in New York City. His parents were Francis Schumacher, a Baptist from Knoxville, Tennessee, who died from pneumonia when Joel was four, and Marian (Kantor), a Swedish Jew. He was raised by his widowed mother in Long Island City. During his youth, he used LSD and methamphetamine and started drinking alcohol by age nine. In 1965, he graduated from Parsons School of Design, after having studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and later became a designer for Revlon in 1966.

Schumacher said that at the time of his mother's death in 1965 his "life seemed like a joke" as he was $50,000 in debt, lost multiple teeth, and only weighed 130 lb. However, in 1970, he stopped using drugs and became employed at Henri Bendel. He later stated that "I got my self-respect back getting a good day's pay for a good day's work."

Career

Production designer

In 1972, Schumacher served as a costume designer for Play It as It Lays and designed the wardrobes of Dyan Cannon, Joan Hackett, and Raquel Welch for the film The Last of Sheila. In 1973, he served as a costume designer for Woody Allen's Sleeper, and Paul Mazursky's Blume in Love. In 1974, he served as the production designer of Killer Bees. He later served as a costume designer for The Time of the Cuckoo, The Prisoner of Second Avenue and Interiors.

Early filmmaking

In 1974, Schumacher wrote a script for an eponymous biographic made-for-television movie based on the life of Virginia Hill. He was selected to serve as the movie's director and started filming on September 9.

In 1974, he and Howard Rosenman wrote the script for Sparkle which later went into production in 1975, and was released in 1976. His original plan for the film was for the film to be a "black Gone with the Wind", but had to be modest due to the limited budget given to the production by Warner Bros. According to Schumacher the film represented his "personal fascination" with Jesse Jackson, Angela Davis, Tammi Terrell, and Diana Ross. He was later selected to write the screenplays for Car Wash and The Wiz.

In 1978, Schumacher was selected to serve as the director of Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill which was later released in 1979. On January 31, 1980, he submitted a script for A Chorus Line, but the film underwent rewrites in development hell.

In 1979, he was selected to serve as the director of The Incredible Shrinking Woman, his first theatrically released film, to replace John Landis, who had left after Universal Pictures had reduced the film's budget. In 1981, the film was released to negative reviews, and was a box office bomb. The film was initially given a $30 million budget, but it was reduced to $11–13 million although it would later rise to over $20 million due to the cost of special effects.

In 1983, he directed D.C. Cab starring Mr. T, but later stated that he only worked on the film as he needed a job.

''St. Elmo's Fire'' and ''The Lost Boys''

In 1984, Schumacher was selected by Columbia Pictures to direct St. Elmo's Fire and was secretive during the production of the film. In 1987, he directed The Lost Boys. Both films were successful among young people and were his first major critical and commercial successes.

Following The Lost Boys, Schumacher directed Cousins (a remake of the French film Cousin Cousine), Flatliners, Dying Young, Falling Down, and The Client.

Batman

Schumacher was selected by Warner Bros. in 1993 to replace Tim Burton as the director of the Batman franchise. He directed Batman Forever, which was a stylistic departure from Burton's Batman and Batman Returns. Batman Forever was released to mixed reviews, but was more financially successful than Batman Returns.

He later directed Batman & Robin, which was rushed into production following Batman Forever and was intentionally made toyetic and light-hearted to appeal to children and sell merchandise. The film was released to largely negative reviews and did not perform as well at the box-office as any of its predecessors, causing a planned sequel, Batman Unchained, to be cancelled. Schumacher later approached Warner Bros. to pitch concepts for a new Batman movie which were inspired by Frank Miller's graphic novels Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns, but due to the box-office bomb of Batman & Robin, along with the negative impact that the film had on his reputation, Warner Bros. refused to let him develop another Batman film. In 2017, Schumacher apologized for the quality of Batman & Robin.

It was alleged that Schumacher, a gay man, had added homoerotic elements to the film with the most prominent being the rubber nipples, codpieces, and close-up camera shots of Batman and Robin's buttocks. Schumacher said the suit designs had been based on anatomically correct Greek statues and medical drawings. George Clooney, who played Batman in the film, said in 2005 that Schumacher told him that Batman was gay.

Later career

Following Batman & Robin, Schumacher directed 8mm, Flawless, Tigerland, Bad Company, Phone Booth, Veronica Guerin, The Phantom of the Opera, The Number 23, Blood Creek, Twelve, and Trespass.

In August 2008, Schumacher directed the music video for American rock band Scars on Broadway, for their single "World Long Gone".

In 2013, he directed two episodes of the television series House of Cards.

Unrealized projects

Main article: Joel Schumacher's unrealized projects

Personal life

Schumacher was openly gay and described himself as "extremely promiscuous", saying in a 2019 interview that he became sexually active at age eleven, and estimating he had sex with between 10,000 to 20,000 men over the course of his life. He said the first person he knew who died from the AIDS epidemic, in 1983, "was not promiscuous", which led Schumacher to believe he would die soon after, recalling that he thought at the time, "If he has it, I must have it quadrupled [...] I was sure I had it, I was planning my death", though he never contracted the disease.

In 1984, Schumacher purchased the horse stables that had belonged to Rudolph Valentino from Doris Duke.

Schumacher donated to Democratic Party candidates, including multiple congressional campaigns as well as John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign.

Schumacher died from cancer in New York on June 22, 2020, at the age of 80.

Filmography

Film

Filmmaking credits

Executive producer

• The Babysitter (1995)
• Gossip (2000)

Other credits

Television

Filmmaking credits

Other credits

Music videos

Directing credits

References

References

1. (May 6, 1965). "Young U.S. Designers Say Paris Has Had It". The Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
2. (May 19, 1966). "They're Egotistical But Lack Confidence". Hartford Courant.
3. Itzkoff, Dave. (June 22, 2020). "Joel Schumacher, Director of 'St. Elmo's Fire,' Is Dead at 80". [[The New York Times]].
4. (June 22, 2020). "Joel Schumacher obituary". The Guardian.
5. (December 8, 1972). "Schumacher To Design Clothing". Clarion-Ledger.
6. (January 1, 1974). "Futuristic 'Sleeper': A Film With Behind-Times Costumes". The Los Angeles Times.
7. (June 22, 2020). "Joel Schumacher, Director of Batman Films and 'Lost Boys,' Dies at 80". Variety.
8. (March 10, 1974). "The Time Of The Cuckoo". The Los Angeles Times.
9. (July 20, 1974). "Dyan Cannon In Fall Drama". The Tribune.
10. (August 18, 1974). "Virginia Hill Filming Starts". The Los Angeles Times.
11. (June 26, 1974). "'Sparkle' set". Kenosha News.
12. (May 25, 1975). "Shooting Starts On 'Sparkle'". The Atlanta Constitution.
13. (June 2, 1976). "To Schumacher, Black Is Bankable". The Los Angeles Times.
14. (June 22, 2020). "Where to Stream the Films of Joel Schumacher". Vulture.
15. (May 29, 1978). "Amateur Night Director". The Los Angeles Times.
16. (January 8, 1979). "'Amateur Night' no challenge to viewer". Austin American-Statesman.
17. "AMATEUR NIGHT AT THE DIXIE BAR AND GRILL(1979)".
18. (June 20, 1982). "'A Chorus Line' – Still No Movie". The Los Angeles Times.
19. (May 8, 1983). "3d studio takes on 'A Chorus Line'". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
20. (March 23, 1979). "The Incredible Shrinking Woman Director". Daily News.
21. (January 13, 1981). "Schumacher replaces Landis". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
22. "THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING WOMAN (LA INCREÍBLE MUJER DIMINUTA)".
23. "The Incredible Shrinking Woman Box Office".
24. (January 20, 1981). "'Shrinking' role may restore her confidence". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
25. (June 23, 1980). "Budget For New Tomlin Film Grows". The Cincinnati Enquirer.
26. Johnston, Sheila. (May 29, 1993). "FILM / Damaged goods in the shop window: He's upset America's Hispanics and Koreans, and he's not exactly the toast of Los Angeles. Is Joel Schumacher sorry? Is he hell. Sheila Johnston reports". The Independent.
27. (March 30, 1984). "St. Elmo's Fire". Daily News.
28. (July 9, 1984). "Secretive production". Daily News.
29. (June 22, 2020). "Joel Schumacher, director of Batman movies and 'St. Elmo's Fire,' dead at 80". CNN.
30. (June 22, 2020). "Joel Schumacher, Director With a Flair for the Distinctive, Dies at 80". The Hollywood Reporter.
31. (June 22, 2020). "Joel Schumacher: 1939–2020". Roger Ebert.
32. "Batman Battle". [[Box Office Mojo]].
33. (October 4, 2019). "8 Unmade BATMAN Movies". warpedfactor.
34. Joel Schumacher, Peter MacGregor-Scott, [[Chris O'Donnell]], [[Val Kilmer]], [[Uma Thurman]], [[John Glover (actor). John Glover]], ''Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight Part 6-Batman Unbound'', 2005, [[Warner Home Video]]
35. (June 12, 2017). "Twenty Years Later, Joel Schumacher Is Very Sorry About 'Batman & Robin'". Vice.
36. (June 27, 2005). "'Happy' to sign off". Variety.
37. (August 22, 2008). "Scars On Broadway Taps Joel Schumacher For 'World Long Gone' Video Shoot". Blabbermouth.net.
38. (June 22, 2020). "In Conversation: Joel Schumacher After five decades in Hollywood, the director has plenty of stories — but don't expect him to kiss and tell.". Vulture.
39. (September 7, 1984). "Rudolph Valentino". The South Bend Tribune.
40. "Donor Lookup".
41. (June 23, 2020). "Jim Carrey, Matthew McConaughey And More Pay Tribute To Batman Director Joel Schumacher". Cinema Blend.
42. (February 20, 1982). "Now We're Cookin". The Indianapolis Star.
43. (June 23, 2020). "Joel Schumacher: Stars remember 'creative and heroic' Lost Boys director". BBC.