Biography: Born and raised in working-class New York City, versatile Hollywood director Joel Schumacher started out as an art student. After graduating from Parsons School of Design, he worked for several fashion design firms and dressed window displays at a department store. He found work as a costume designer (Woody Allen's Sleeper and Interiors) and screenwriter (Car Wash and The Wiz) before turning to full-time directing. After a few TV movies, Schumacher made his feature-length directorial debut with the Lily Tomlin comedy The Incredible Shrinking Woman, followed by the Mr. T vehicle D.C. Cab.
Schumacher tried to make a comeback with the disturbing and brutal crime thriller 8MM starring Nicolas Cage. Fortunately, he made a wiser move back to writing and directing comedy dramas with Flawless, starring Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman. After doing some producing, the director teamed up with action extravaganza producer Jerry Bruckheimer for Bad Company, a box-office dud featuring the odd pairing of Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins. His Vietnam drama Tigerland marked the breakthrough performance of Irish actor Colin Farrell, whom he cast again in his next two features: the crime drama Veronica Guerin and the blockbuster suspense thriller Phone Booth. Schumacher then began work on a film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway musical Phantom of the Opera. Released with an onslaught of hype in the fall of 2004, the film did little to aid the already-flagging musical revival of the 2000s, and was seen only by the most devout Webber fans.
The director chose somewhat safer ground with the flashy psychological thriller The Number 23 in the winter of 2007, reuniting with his Batman Forever star Jim Carrey. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
DVDs that Joel Schumacher appeared in...
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