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Wes Craven, Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street Director, Dies at 76

wes craven dies
Wes Craven died at his Los Angeles home on Sunday, Aug. 30.

Wes Craven, the mastermind behind such horror movie classics as Nightmare on Elm Street and the Scream series, died at his Los Angeles home on Sunday, Aug. 30. He was 76.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Craven had been battling brain cancer.

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The director is perhaps best known for creating the iconic Hollywood villain Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare series, which — to date — includes eight films. Another reboot of the classic (first released in 1984) is set to be made with the screenwriter of 2009’s hit Orphan, it was reported earlier this month.

nightmare on elm

Craven’s Scream series — a clever, but still scary, satire of the slash genre — has also generated substantial horror film fandom since the first film was released in 1996.

The Ohio-born director had also worked in other genres as well. In 1999, he directed Meryl Streep in Music of the Heart, an inspirational drama about a teacher in Spanish Harlem. And several of his earlier films, like 1977’s The Hills Have Eyes and 1982’s Swamp Thing, are considered low-budget classics.

Related: PHOTOS: Scariest horror movie villains of all time

In his lifetime, Craven directed a total of 29 titles, including a horror short for Paris, je t’aime and several episodes of The Twilight Zone.

Craven is survived by his wife, producer and former Disney Studios Vice President Iya Labunka; sister Carol Buhrow; son Jonathan Craven; daughter Jessica Craven; stepdaughter Nina Tarnawksy, and three grandchildren.

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