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Roger Corman, independent filmmaker and Hollywood mentor, dead at 98
Roger Corman, a man known as a trailblazer in independent filmmaking and a mentor to many who worked with him, has died. He was 98.
Corman died at his Santa Monica, California, home on Thursday, according to a statement released Saturday by his wife and daughters obtained by The Associated Press.
Corman, known as “King of the Bs” helped turn out low-budget classics “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters.” He gave many Hollywood actors and producers their first breaks.
While he acknowledged the “many constraints” working on low-budget films during a 2007 documentary about Val Lewton, the 1940s director of “Cat People” and other underground classics, he said they also allow more creativity and experimentation.
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Roger Corman addresses the audience during the awards ceremony of the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, May 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Corman’s career as a producer and director started in 1955, where he did B-movies “Black Scorpion,” “Bucket of Blood” and “Bloody Mama.” He hired now well-known filmmakers Ron Howard, James Cameron and Martin Scorsese.
Corman’s B-movie directors were given minuscule budgets and often told to finish their films in as little as five days. When Howard, who would go on to win a best director Oscar for “A Beautiful Mind,” pleaded for an extra half day to reshoot a scene in 1977 for “Grand Theft Auto,” Corman told him, “Ron, you can come back if you want, but nobody else will be there.”
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Roger Corman arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of “The Irishman,” Oct. 24, 2019, at the TCL Chinese Theatre. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
A-list actor Jack Nicholson made his film debut as the title character in a 1958 Corman quickie, “The Cry Baby Killer,” and stayed with the company for biker, horror and action films, writing and producing some of them. One of Nicholson’s most well-known roles came in the 1980 horror film “The Shining.”
Corman was born in Detroit and raised in the not “affluent section” of Beverly Hills, he once said. He attended Stanford University, earning a degree in engineering, and arrived in Hollywood after three years in the Navy.
Corman got his start as a messenger boy for 20th Century-Fox, eventually graduating to story analyst. After quitting the business briefly to study English literature for a term at Oxford University, he returned to Hollywood and launched his career as a movie producer and director.
Producer Roger Corman poses in his Los Angeles office, May 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
In 1964, he married Julie Halloran, a UCLA graduate who also became a producer.
He is survived by his wife, Julie, and children Catherine, Roger, Brian and Mary.
“He was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him,” the family statement about his death said. “When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that.’”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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California childcare providers struggle to stay alive
Hundreds of Bay Area child care providers closed their doors in 2020, as many parents worked from home and watched their children on their own. According to the Century Foundation, more than 70,000 childcare programs nationwide are projected to close. This is partly due to the expiration of the federal COVID-19 pandemic support program that kept many centers open.
SAN FRANCISCO – More San Francisco families will soon have access to free or discounted childcare thanks to an expansion of a city program announced Thursday by Mayor Daniel Lurie.
Who’s eligible for free or discounted childcare in San Francisco?
Dig deeper:
Under the mayor’s expansion of the city’s Family Opportunity Agenda, nearly 750 more children will have access to free or discounted care. To be eligible for free childcare, families must earn less than 150% of the city’s annual median income, $230,000. Families who earn under 200% of the median income – $310,000 – will receive a 50% subsidy for childcare.
The program expansion will offer more than 700 childcare spots, with a focus on infants and toddlers in the Sunset, Parkside, Richmond, Mission, Bayview, Portola, Mission Bay, Excelsior, Glen Park, and SoMa neighborhoods, the mayor’s office said.
“The new slots will expand the city’s early childhood system for infants and toddlers by more than 8%—broadening access to affordable, high-quality childcare for working families,” the city said, in part, in a statement Thursday.
What is San Francisco’s Family Opportunity Agenda?
Big picture view:
The mayor’s Family Opportunity Agenda was launched in January to make housing, childcare, education and more necessary resources affordable for San Francisco residents.
“When families have access to quality, affordable childcare, they can stay and build a life in San Francisco,” Lurie said. “For children, it supports their academic and emotional growth long before kindergarten. And for our entire city, it strengthens our future—helping families stay and keeping our communities strong.”
For more information on the city’s childcare program, click here.
How much does childcare cost?
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, full-time childcare for pre-school-age children can cost anywhere between $9,000 and $24,000 per year. For children under the age of two, the cost rises from $11,000 to $29,000, research shows.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau in 2024 shows California has the third-highest costs for childcare across the U.S., at an average $16,945 per year.
The Source: Office of San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie
Kaden Davis is taking his talents to the United Football League.
The former Denver Broncos wide receiver signed with the UFL’s Houston Gamblers earlier this week, and he could make his debut as early as Friday evening when the Gamblers face the Columbus Aviators (5:00 p.m. MT on Fox and FuboTV).
Davis (6-1, 193 pounds) entered the league with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent out of Northwest Missouri State in 2022. After spending part of his rookie season on Denver’s practice squad, Davis played for the Michigan Panthers (then of the USFL) in the spring of 2023.
After that, Davis spent time with the Arizona Cardinals (2023) and Detroit Lions (2024) before returning to the Broncos as a member of the practice squad in 2024. He was later cut, re-signed, and cut again by Denver that fall. Davis joined the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad late in the 2024 campaign, and he remained with the Browns in 2025. He’ll now look to impress in the UFL.
Elsewhere on the ex-Bronco front, the San Francisco 49ers signed running back Sincere McCormick, who had a brief stint on Denver’s practice squad last season.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
The Seattle Seahawks have an extensive history of taller cornerbacks on the roster, but not this tall.
The only reason why this is notable is because Broden was measured at just over 6’5 and weighed under 200 pounds. In addition to Broden’s height, he ran a reported 4.37 40-yard dash at his Pro Day. For context, Broden is taller than Richard Sherman (6’3), Riq Woolen (6’4), and Brandon Browner (6’4). Other reports of Broden’s height (including from Tyrone himself) have him up to 6’7. Unsurprisingly, Broden did not have any prior experience at corner during his college football days, and there’s nothing to indicate he had any cornerback work in high school.
At receiver, his chances of making the active roster are slim and none given the competition ahead of him, so why not have some fun experimentation? I’m not banking on it being much of anything, but I hope it continues into training camp so that fans can see this in person.
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