Joel T. Schumacher (August 29, 1939 – June 22, 2020) was an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and costume designer. He was costume designer on Frank Perry’s Play It as It Lays (1972), with Tuesday Weld, Anthony Perkins, Tammy Grimes, and Adam Roarke; Paul Mazursky’s Blume in Love (1973), with George Segal, Susan Anspach, Kris Kristofferson, and Shelley Winters; Herbert Ross’s The Last Sheila (1073), with Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, James Coburn, Joan Hackett, James Mason, Ian McShane, and Raquel Welch; Sleeper (1973), with Woody Allen (who also directed) and Diane Keaton; Melvin Frank’s The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975), with Jack Lemmon, Anne Bancroft, and Gene Saks; and Interiors (1978), with Kristin Griffith, Mary Beth Hurt, Richard Jordan, Keaton, E.G. Marshall, Geraldine Page, Maureen Stapleton, and Sam Waterston. Hr was also a writer or co-writer on Sparkle (1976), with Irene Cara, Philip Michael Thomas, Lonette McKee, Dwan Smith, Mary Alice, Dorian Harewood, and Tony King; Michael Schultz’s Car Wash (1976), with Franklyn Ajaye, George Carlin, Irwin Corey, Ivan Dixon, Bill Duke, Antonio Fargas, Jack Kehoe, Clarence Muse, Lorraine Gary, The Pointer Sisters, Richard Pryor, and Garrett Morris; and Sidney Lumet’s The Wiz (1978), with Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Theresa Merritt, Thelma Carpenter, Lena Horne and Pryor.
He made his directorial debut with The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), with Lily Tomlin; followed by D.C. Cab (1983), with Max Gail, Adam Baldwin, Mr. T, Charlie Barnett, Gary Busey, Marsha Warfield, and Whitman Mayo. He rose to fame after directing three hit films: St. Elmo’s Fire (1985), with Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Mare Winningham; The Lost Boys (1987), with Corey Haim, Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Billy Wirth, Brooke McCarter, Alex Winter, Jamison Newlander, and Barnard Hughes; and Cousins (1989), with Ted Danson, Isabella Rossellini, Sean Young, William Petersen, Keith Coogan, Lloyd Bridges, and Norma Aleandro.
Films in the 1990s include Flatliners (1990), with Sutherland, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt, and Kevin Bacon; Dying Young (1991), with Roberts, Campbell Scott, Vincent D’Onofrio, Colleen Dewhurst, David Selby, and Ellen Burstyn; Falling Down (1993), with Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall; The Client (1994), with Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones; Batman Forever (1995), with Val Kilmer, Chris O’Donnell, Jones, Jim Carrey, and Nicole Kidman; A Time to Kill (1996), Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Spacey, Oliver Platt, Ashley Judd, and Sutherland; Batman & Robin (1997), with George Clooney, O’Donnell, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurman, and Alicia Silverstone. After the Batman films, he pulled back from blockbusters and returned to making minimalist films such as Flawless (1999), with Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman; and 8mm (1999), with Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, and Anthony Heald.
Films of the 2000s include Tigerland (2000), with Colin Farrell; Bad Company (2002), with Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins; Veronica Guerin (2003), with Cate Blanchett, Gerard McSorley, Ciarán Hinds, Brenda Fricker, and Amy Shiels; Phone Booth (2002), Farrell, Forest Whitaker, Katie Holmes, Radha Mitchell, and Sutherland; The Phantom of the Opera (2004), with Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver, and Jennifer Ellison; The Number 23 (2007), with Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, and Danny Huston; Blood Creek (2009), with Michael Fassbender, Dominic Purcell, and Henry Cavill; Twelve (2010), with Chace Crawford, Rory Culkin, Curtis Jackson, Emily Meade, Emma Roberts, and Erik Per Sullivan; and Trespass (2011), with Cage, Kidman, Ben Mendelsohn, Cam Gigandet, Liana Liberato, Jordana Spiro, Dash Mihok, Emily Meade, and Nico Tortorella.
Each review will be linked to the title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
- Play It as It Lays (1972) – directed by Frank Perry – costume designer
- The Last of Sheila (1973) – directed by Herbert Ross – costume designer
- Blume in Love (1973) – directed by Paul Mazursky – costume designer
- Sleeper (1973) – directed by Woody Allen – costume designer
- Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975) – directed by Melvin Frank – costume designer
- Sparkle (1976) – directed by Sam O’Steen – co-writer
- Car Wash (1976) – directed by Michael Schultz – writer
- Interiors (1978) – directed by Woody Allen – costume designer
- The Wiz (1978) – directed by Sidney Lumet – writer
- The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) – director
- D.C. Cab (1983) – director, writer, co-story
- St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) – director, co-writer
- The Lost Boys (1987)** – director
- Cousins (1989) – director
- Flatliners (1990) – director
- Dying Young (1991) – director
- Falling Down (1993) – director
- The Client (1994) – director
- Batman Forever (1995)* – director
- A Time to Kill (1996) – director
- Batman & Robin (1997)* – director
- 8mm (1999) – director
- Flawless (1999) – director, writer
- Tigerland (2000) – director
- Bad Company (2002) – director
- Phone Booth (2003)* – director
- Veronica Guerin (2003) – director
- The Phantom of the Opera (2004) – director, co-writer
- The Number 23 (2007) – director
- Blood Creek (2009) – director
- Twelve (2010) – director
- Man in the Mirror (2011) – director – short
- Trespass (2011) – director
