SANTA MONICA, California: Roger Corman, the "King of the Bs" who created low-budget classics such as "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Attack of the Crab Monsters" and gave many of Hollywood's most famous actors and directors early breaks, has died at the age of 98.

According to a statement released over the weekend by his wife and daughters, Corman died on May 9 at his home in Santa Monica, California.

"He was generous, open-hearted, and kind to all those who knew him. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, 'I was a filmmaker, just that'," the statement said.

From 1955, Corman helped create hundreds of B-movies as a producer and director, including "Black Scorpion" and "Bucket of Blood."

He also hired aspiring filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, James Cameron, and Martin Scorsese.

In 2009, Corman received an honorary Academy Award.

"You can gamble a little bit more. You can experiment. You have to find a more creative way to solve a problem or to present a concept," he said.

His B-movie directors were given small budgets and often given as little as five days to complete their films. His own films were also open about sex and drugs for their time.

In addition, he released prestige foreign films in the U.S., including Ingmar Bergman's "Cries and Whispers," Federico Fellini's "Amarcord" and Volker Schlondorff's "The Tin Drum."

Corman started as a messenger boy for Twentieth Century Fox, eventually graduating to story analyst before going to university.

After studying English literature for a term at Oxford University, he returned to Hollywood and launched his career. He worked as a television stagehand and literary agent before becoming a movie producer and director.

In 1964, he married Julie Halloran, a UCLA graduate who also became a producer. He is survived by his wife, Julie, and children Catherine, Roger, Brian, and Mary.