JAMES CAMERON - "B" MOVIE TITAN ROGER CORMAN TO RECEIVE AN OSCAR

"B" MOVIE TITAN ROGER CORMAN TO RECEIVE AN OSCAR

Eighty-three-year-old Roger Corman, who has produced nearly 400 "B" movies -- none of them regarded as a candidate for an Oscar nomination -- over a career that began 55 years ago, will himself receive an honorary Oscar at next year's ceremonies, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday. Corman later told the Associated Press that even he was "truly surprised" by the announcement. "I felt the academy would not give an award to someone who made low-budget films," he said. Unlike the major studios, Corman has used his own money to finance his exploitation films, generally investing in unknown talent who later achieved star status, including Frances Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Jonathan Demme, James Cameron, John Sayles, and Peter Bogdanovich. "I know that they all would have achieved the same level if they had never met me," Corman told the wire service, "but I think what I was able to do was to give them a start and help them a little bit in their careers, and I take great pride in that."

12/11/2009