Joel Schumacher, the journeyman director who dressed New York department store windows before shepherding the Brat Pack to the big screen in St Elmo's Fire and steering the Batman franchise into its most baroque territory in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, has died. He was 80.
A representative for Schumacher said the filmmaker died Monday in New York after a year-long battle with cancer.
A native New Yorker, Schumacher was first a sensation in the fashion world after attending Parsons School of Design and decorating Henri Bendel's windows. As a director, he established himself as a filmmaker of great flair, if not often good reviews, in a string of mainstream films in the 80s and 90s.
![St Elmo's Fire was an era-defining film. Photo / Supplied](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/TKU4XVAV3MPIMALIVLERXMXAQ4.jpg?auth=eaf2e299e69ef87a44d575cfbff1e5e51268e2e687f5047f97ddb71fb3359206&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
The success of his first film, St Elmo's Fire, with Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez and Ally Sheedy, not only helped make a name for the Brat Pack but made Schumacher in demand in Hollywood. He followed it up with the 1987 vampire horror comedy The Lost Boys.