The insatiable cinema dreamer Roger Corman, grandmaster of B-pictures, penny-pinching genius and father figure for Martin Scorsese, James Cameron and half of Hollywood, has died.
He wanted to follow his wild ideas and see them quickly on the screen, without accountants, brakemen, or doubters. He wanted to make a profit from every one of his more than 500 films, and he saw bright dollar signs where others just smiled wearily. His self-calculated success rate, which no one else in Hollywood could match, ended up being an incredible 95 percent.