Joel Schumacher
Joel T. Schumacher was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer who was active from the 1970s to the 2010s.
Schumacher was raised in New York City by his mother and suffered from substance abuse at a young age. He became a fashion designer after graduating from Parsons School of Design, but would continue suffering from substance abuse and high levels of debt until the early 1970s. He first entered film-making as a production and costume designer before gaining writing credits on Car Wash, Sparkle, and The Wiz.
He received little attention for his initial theatrically released films, The Incredible Shrinking Woman and D.C. Cab, but rose to prominence after directing St. Elmo's Fire and The Lost Boys. Schumacher was selected to replace Tim Burton as director of the Batman franchise and oversaw Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. After the Batman franchise Schumacher directed smaller budgeted movies, including Tigerland and Phone Booth. He directed The Phantom of the Opera which was released to mixed-to-negative reviews in 2004. His final directorial work was for two episodes of House of Cards.
Critical reaction to Schumacher's films ranged from critical accolades, for The Lost Boys and Falling Down, to critical disdain, with Batman & Robin being regarded as one of the worst films ever made.
Early life and education
Joel T. Schumacher was born on August 29, 1939, in New York City, to Francis Schumacher, a Baptist from Knoxville, Tennessee, who died from pneumonia when he was four, and Marian Kantor, a Swedish Jew. He was raised by his mother in Long Island City, and during his youth he used LSD, methamphetamine, and started drinking alcohol by age 9. 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.At the time of his mother's death in 1965, Schumacher stated that his "life seemed like a joke" as he was $50,000 in debt, lost multiple teeth, and only weighed 130 pounds. 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 movie was for the movie 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 movie's budget. In 1981, the film was released to negative reviews, and was a box office bomb. The movie 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 movie 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 movie. In 1987, he directed the The Lost Boys. Both movies were successful among young people and were his first major critical and commercial successes.Following The Lost Boys he 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 less mature than 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 mostly negative reviews and did not perform as well at the box-office as any of its predecessors causing a planned sequel, Batman Triumphant, 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, and The Dark Knight Returns. But due to the critical failure 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. Schumacher later apologized for the quality of Batman & Robin in 2017.
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 stated that the designs of the suits had been based on anatomically correct Greek statues and medical drawings. However, in 2005, Clooney said that Schumacher told him that Batman was gay.
Later career
Following Batman & Robin Schumacher directed 8mm, Flawless, Gossip, 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.
Death
On June 22, 2020, Schumacher died from cancer. Following his death, he was praised by Jim Carrey and Matthew McConaughey, who credited Schumacher with launching his career.Personal life
Schumacher became sexually active at age 11, and had sex with three girlfriends during his youth. When he was 15 he started a relationship with a 17-year-old boy that lasted two years. Schumacher said that he had had sex with between 10,000 and 20,000 men. During the AIDS epidemic, he lost multiple friends, and had multiple tests on himself performed due to fears that his promiscuity would give him AIDS.In 1984, he purchased the horse stables that belonged to Rudolph Valentino from Doris Duke.
He made political donations to the Democratic Party, the congressional campaigns of Robert J. Mrazek, Nick Clooney, and Donna Shalala, and John Kerry's presidential campaign.