George A. Romero

Born in the Bronx on February 4, 1940, George A. Romero studied at Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University, and built his early career in Pittsburgh. He co-founded the production company that made Night of the Living Dead (1968), the fiercely independent film that became a landmark of horror cinema and helped define the modern screen zombie.

Romero followed it with films including Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Martin, and The Crazies. Across those movies, he became known not just for scares, but for weaving in commentary about consumer culture, violence, fear, and social breakdown. That mix of pulp energy and big ideas made him one of horror's most respected creators.

He later lived and worked in both the United States and Canada, and he died in Toronto on July 16, 2017. Remembered as a writer, director, editor, and producer with a fiercely independent spirit, he left behind a body of work that helped change horror from the inside out.