Died at 86
male
Joel T. Schumacher (August 29, 1939 – June 22, 2020) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and costume designer. He was raised in New York City by his mother and suffered from substance abuse at a young age. He became a fashion designer after graduating from Parsons School of Design, but would continue suffering from substance abuse and high levels of debt until the early 1970s. He first entered film-making as a production and costume designer before gaining writing credits on Car Wash, Sparkle, and The Wiz. He received little attention for his initial theatrically released films, The Incredible Shrinking Woman and D.C. Cab, but rose to prominence after directing St. Elmo's Fire (1985), The Lost Boys (1987), and The Client (1994). Schumacher was selected to replace Tim Burton as director of the Batman franchise and oversaw Batman Foreve (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997). After the Batman franchise Schumacher directed smaller-budgeted films, including Tigerland (2000) and Phone Booth (2002). He directed The Phantom of the Opera, which was released to mixed reviews in 2004. His final directorial work was for two episodes of House of Cards (2013).
A year after the events of Batman Begins, Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent have achieved real success in taking down Gotham's organized crime by hitting the mob where it hurts: their money. The city's mob leaders become so afraid of Batman and what he represents that when a scarred psychopath in clown makeup shows up and offers to kill Batman, they hire him. But once he's backed by the mob, The Joker decides that simply killing Batman won't satisfy him. He aims to destroy Gotham City from the inside out, and part of his "plan" involves attempts to corrupt the city's two heroes (Batman and Harvey Dent) by making their lives hell until they snap...
