The godfather and creator of the modern cinematic zombie, director George A. Romero, has passed away at the age of 77 after a battle with lung cancer. Romero is credited with creating the zombie genre which we all know and love because of his films like Night of The Living Dead, Dawn of The Dead, Day of The Dead and more. He is a legend.
Romero’s manager Chris Roe broke the news yesterday that the iconic filmmaker passed away in his sleep while listening to the score for one of his favourite films – ‘The Quiet Man’. His wife Suzanne Desrocher Romero and daughter Tina Romero were by his side.
George A. Romero made Night of The Living Dead in 1968, going on to make even more iconic zombie films including Dawn, Day and even Land of The Dead in 2003, followed up by the criminally underrated Diary of The Dead in 2008 and his final film Survival of The Dead in 2010. Aside from his masterful work in the zombie genre, he also directed phenomenal horror films like Martin and a personal favourite of mine – Creepshow.
He was working on developing a TV adaptation of his Marvel comic series Empire of The Dead as well, so it’s not known how much headway was made on that series. Romero was very vocal about his distaste for AMC’s The Walking Dead and how it was too much of a soap opera for his liking. That always saddened me personally because I know how much TWD creator Robert Kirkman was influenced by Romero’s films, especially Day of The Dead and without those movies, The Walking Dead wouldn’t even exist today.
I was fortunate enough to meet Romero at the Calgary Expo a few years ago, where we talked about his Empire of The Dead comic book and he signed my Dawn of The Dead movie poster, which will ALWAYS be framed and placed prominently upon my wall forever. I loved that man’s work and will continue to love it for the rest of my life. He is a legend, one of Hollywood’s most important filmmakers and one of, if not the, most important horror directors of all time.
Goodbye George A Romero. We laughed through 50 years and 9 films. I will miss him. There is a light that has gone out and can't be replaced. pic.twitter.com/N0MAC1ItVM
— Tom Savini (@THETomSavini) July 16, 2017
Sad to hear my favorite collaborator–and good old friend–George Romero has died. George, there will never be another like you.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 16, 2017
Wrote this on the late, great George Romero, to whom I owe a film career. https://t.co/eSaKaRndDC pic.twitter.com/UPMZn3WRrD
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) July 17, 2017
Without George A. Romero, there is no Walking Dead. His inspiration cannot be overstated. He started it all, so many others followed.
— Robert Kirkman (@RobertKirkman) July 17, 2017