Joel Schumacher

Joel Schumacher
Schumacher at the 2003 Taormina Film Fest in Italy
Born	(1939-08-29)August 29, 1939 New York City, U.S.
Died	June 22, 2020(2020-06-22) (aged 80) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Fashion Institute of Technology Parsons School of Design
Occupations	Film director producer screenwriter
Years active	1970–2020

Joel T. Schumacher (/ˈʃuːmɑːkər/; August 29, 1939 – June 22, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Raised in New York City by his mother, Schumacher graduated from Parsons School of Design and originally became a fashion designer. He first entered filmmaking as a production and costume designer before gaining writing credits on Car Wash, Sparkle, and The Wiz.

Schumacher received little attention for his first theatrically released films, The Incredible Shrinking Woman and D.C. Cab, but rose to prominence after directing St. Elmo's Fire, The Lost Boys, The Client and Falling Down. Schumacher was selected to replace Tim Burton as director of the Batman film franchise, and oversaw two of the series' most commercially-oriented entries, Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997). The latter's failure foresaw a steep career decline, although Schumacher continued directing work on smaller-budgeted films, such as Tigerland and Phone Booth. In 2004, he directed The Phantom of the Opera, which was released to mixed reviews. His final directorial work was two episodes of House of Cards.