Summary

• Jack Nicholson's tearful tribute captured the essence of Roger Corman's impact on his career and life, starting with Little Shop of Horrors.
• Hollywood legends like John Carpenter and Ron Howard recognize Corman's influence.
• Corman's financial success in low-budget films and ability to inspire others cemented his status as a Hollywood icon, leaving a powerful legacy.

As the world mourned the loss of Roger Corman, one particular clip from the archives went viral across social media. It was not a clip of Corman, or from one of his many movies, but of an emotional Jack Nicholson breaking down in tears while talking about the impact Corman had on his life and career. Roger Corman passed away on May 11, at the age of 98. As the director of around 50 movies and producer of up to 500, the unique and legendary Hollywood icon was still working right up to the end.

It was announced in March that Corman was teaming up with Joe Dante on a new remake of Little Shop of Horrors.

In the wake of his death, thousands of fans and those who have worked with him on his many, many movies shared their feelings of loss, and shared clips and images from the Corman catalog, of movies like Little Shop of Horrors, The Masque of the Red Death, The Raven, and countless others.

However, it was one particular clip from the documentary, Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel – which was originally released in 2011 – that seemed to capture the mood of fans following Corman’s death. This featured Jack Nicholson, who was given his first starring movie role in Corman’s original Little Shop of Horrors, explaining in simple, emotional terms, what it was that made Corman so special to him and countless others. In the clip he says:

“There’s no one in there that he didn’t, in the most important way, support. I mean he was my main connect, my life blood to whatever I thought I was gonna be and as a person. And I hope he knows this is not all hot air…I’m gonna cry now. Not just me who’s very sentimental, but he started people off so I love him.”

Nicholson’s heartfelt words, coming more than a decade before Corman’s death, rang true due to the director being the only person who would give Nicholson any work when he was a struggling actor, and a long way from becoming the legend that he is today. You can check out the clip below.

Roger Corman was Mourned by Stars on Social Media

Among the many fans paying tribute to Corman on social media, others from the industry he made such an impact on shared their own thoughts on his passing. This included Blumhouse’s Jason Blum, who noted that Corman was a “producer I will always hold in the highest regard.” Director Robert Rodriguez called him a “huge inspiration as a filmmaker and businessman,” adding that Corman had been able to create his own studio but also spend so much time inspiring other filmmakers.

John Carpenter echoed a similar sentiment, calling Corman the “most influential movie directors” of his life, and one of his biggest inspirations growing up. And Ron Howard recalled how, at the age of 23, Corman gave him his first shot at directing.

Evil Dead star and B-movie icon Bruce Campbell specifically made comment of Corman’s “financial track record” as being “one of the best in the business.” Working in low-budget movies, but making them hugely successful, paid off massively for Corman, and that one of his greatest legacies. Meanwhile, Star Trek legend William Shatner said that he could “count himself lucky” for having known Corman, and Elijah Wood simply said, “Farewell.” You can check out more tributes to Corman below.

You can check out more tributes to Roger Corman from Robert Patrick, Barbara Crampton, Industrial Light & Magic, Mick Garris and Troma Entertainment below.