George A. Romero (born 4 February 1940) is an American director, writer, editor, actor and composer.

He was born and grew up in New York City, and attended Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University. After graduation, he began shooting mostly short films and commercials. He and friends formed Image Ten Productions in the late 1960s and they all chipped in roughly $10,000 apiece to produce what became one of the most celebrated horror films of all time, which he had written together with John A. Russo: Night of the Living Dead (1968). The movie became a cult classic in the 1970s.

Romero's next films were less popular: There's Always Vanilla (1971), The Crazies (1973), Season of the Witch (1973) and Martin (1978). Though not as acclaimed as Night of the Living Dead or some of his later work, these films had his signature social commentary while dealing with issues (usually horror-related) at the microscopic level. And like almost all of his films, they were shot in or around Romero's favorite city of Pittsburgh.

In 1978, Romero returned to the zombie genre with Dawn of the Dead (1978). Shot on a budget of just $1.5 million, the film earned over $40 million worldwide and was named one of the top cult films by Entertainment Weekly in 2003. Romero completed his "Dead Trilogy" in 1985 with the less-heralded Day of the Dead.

Universal Studios produced and released a remake of Dawn of the Dead in 2004, which was moderately successful, though critics and fans generally prefer the original 1978 film. Romero was not involved in this production.

Romero, who still lives in Pittsburgh, is currently filming a fourth "Dead" movie, Land of the Dead formerly known as Dead Reckoning, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with a $16 million production budget (the highest in Romero's career). Actors Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento and John Leguizamo will star in the film.

Filmography

1. Diamond Dead, 2005
2. Land of the Dead, 2005
3. The Ill, 2004
4. Bruiser, 2000
5. The Dark Half, 1993
6. Due occhi diabolici, 1990
7. Monkey Shines, 1988
8. Day of the Dead, 1985
9. Tales from the Darkside, 1984 TV Series
10. Creepshow, 1982
11. Knightriders, 1981
12. Dawn of the Dead, 1978
13. Martin, 1977
14. O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose, 1974
15. The Winners, 1973 TV Series
16. Season of the Witch, 1973
17. The Crazies, 1973
18. There's Always Vanilla, 1971
19. Night of the Living Dead, 1968

External link

• Internet Movie DataBase (http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0001681)