The Lost Boys and Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher dies at 80

Joel Schumacher, the director known for movies like The Lost Boys, St. Elmo's Fire, and Batman Forever, has died at 80.

Schumacher's death was confirmed on Monday in a statement from his publicist, who said he had been suffering from cancer. "He will be fondly remembered by his friends and collaborators," the publicist said.

After getting his start as director with TV movies and with 1981's The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Schumacher helmed St. Elmo's Fire in 1985, which he followed up with the classic vampire film The Lost Boys in 1987. In the 1990s, he directed the Batman movies Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, and other films of his include Flatliners, Falling Down, A Time to Kill, and Tigerland. He began his Hollywood career as a costume designer, working on movies like The Last of Sheila and Sleeper, notes Variety.

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Schumacher "had an uncanny ability to recognize young talent," writes The Hollywood Reporter, pointing to his casting of actors including Rob Lowe, Matthew McConaughey, and Colin Farrell.

"Joel was a creative genius; a master at clothing design, costuming, writing and of course directing," tweeted Alex Winter, who starred in Schumacher's The Lost Boys. "Joel saw something in me as an actor I didn't see and gave me the confidence and space to pursue it. Unfairly savaged by critics his entire career, his great work will live on."