George Romero Birthday February 4

George Andrew Romero (born February 4, 1940) is an American film director, screenwriter, editor and occasional actor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed Grandfather of the Zombie.

Trademark:

Often features radio or television news broadcasts playing in the background.

Trivia:

Education: Carnegie-Mellon Institute (art, theatre, design).

Prior to Night of the Living Dead (1968), he was better known as an industrial film-maker, who created TV commercials, promotional featurettes and industrial training films. One of his assignments was to shoot short films that were used in the TV show “MisteRogers’ Neighborhood”.

Was originally slated to write and direct Resident Evil (2002).

Was slated to direct a theatrical version of Stephen King’s novel “The Stand,” adapted for the screen by Rospo Pallenberg. The film never materialised. Instead, the novel was adapted into a TV mini-series, “The Stand” (1994).

Frequently casts African-Americans as the heroes of his films, although the parts aren’t usually written specifically for any particular race, going against the stereotype of the Black character dying early in horror films.

In 1968, he reinvented the horror genre with his Night of the Living Dead (1968), a cult classic that made its way onto the prestigious National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

The 2002 Sight & Sound Greatest Films Poll (2002) listed his Top Ten films as The Brothers Karamazov (1958), Casablanca (1942), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), High Noon (1952), King Solomon’s Mines (1950), North by Northwest (1959), The Quiet Man (1952), Repulsion (1965), Touch of Evil (1958), and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951).

Originally set to direct Pet Sematary (1989), but when filming was delayed, he dropped out and Tom Savini was given the opportunity to direct the film but passed. Finally, Mary Lambert stepped in.

Began making movies at the age of 14 with an 8mm camera.

Is good friends with stuntman/special-effects artist/actor/director Tom Savini. The two have worked together on many films.

Dawn of the Dead (2004), the remake of his movie Dawn of the Dead (1978), was released before the fourth part of his Zombie-series, Land of the Dead (2005), was even filmed.

He has two children, a son and a daughter (who will be attending Tisch, NYU in the Fall 2006 to study film-making).

He resides in Toronto, Canada.

Was originally set to direct two Stephen King stories that would later turn into TV features: Salem’s Lot (1979) (TV) & “The Stand” (1994).

Father of Tina Romero and G. Cameron Romero.

When discussing his influences, he has that the Universal horror classic made a strong impression on him and his favorite horror film as a child was The Thing from Another World (1951). However, the film he said made him want to be a director was The Red Shoes (1948). While discussing the directors who made a strong impression on him, he said that Orson Welles and Howard Hawks were his favorites, surpassing Alfred Hitchcock.

Was originally attached to write and direct Resident Evil (2002), but left the project in 1999 due to creative differences over the script.

Of Cuban and Lithuanian descent.

A big fan of The Archers’ (aka the British team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger) movie The Tales of Hoffmann (1951), based on Jacques Offenbach’s operetta. He is interviewed at length about his love for the film and especially its artistic direction, use of color, and use of fantasy/horror themes in a special feature included on the Criterion Collection’s 2005 DVD release of the film. Before video tape and DVD versions of the film were available, Romero would frequently rent a 16-millimeter film copy–as would Martin Scorsese, he subsequently learned, from the very same New York City rental company. Alas, Romero reported that the two fans have not yet become aware of each other.