Legendary filmmaker George A. Romero, father of the modern movie zombie and creator of the Night of the Living Dead franchise, has died.
According to a statement provided by his longtime producing partner, Peter Grunwald, Romero died today in his sleep after a
“brief but aggressive battle with lung cancer.”
His family said Romero died while listening to the score of one his favorite films, 1952’s The Quiet Man, with his wife, Suzanne Desrocher Romero, and daughter, Tina Romero.
Romero jump-started the zombie genre as the co-writer (with John A. Russo) and director of the groundbreaking 1968 movie Night of the Living Dead, which went to show future generations of filmmakers such as Tobe Hooper and John Carpenter that generating big scares didn’t require big budgets. Living Dead spawned an entire school of zombie knockoffs, and Romero’s sequels included 1978’s Dawn of the Dead, 1985’s Day of the Dead, 2005’s Land of the Dead, 2007’s Diary of the Dead and 2009’s George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead. Not to mention inspiring the hit series, The Walking Dead and an entire school of Zombie films.
The original film, since colorized, has become a Halloween TV staple.
George A. Romero was 77.
(via Los Angeles Times)
