Filmmaker Wes Craven, directed 'Scream,' 'Nightmare on Elm Street' franchises, has died

Filmmaker Wes Craven, directed ‘Scream,’ ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ franchises, has died

By Miriam Di Nunzio

The hollywoodreporter.com is reporting that Wes Craven, the filmmaker behind the iconic horror franchises of “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Scream” has died after a battle with brain cancer. He was 76.

The man who brought Freddy Kruger to life and scared the bejeezus out of generation of film-goers was also a graduate of suburban Wheaton College. In a 1997 Tribune interview, Craven said:

I have fond memories of Wheaton College, said Craven, a Cleveland native now based in Los Angeles, who chose Wheaton solely because my sister’s fiance went there. I was the first member of my family to attend college, and, frankly, the idea of applying to more than one school never occurred to us. Our worry was that Wheaton College might be too liberal. I seem to recall some discussion of that subject in the family.

The story went on to describe the college-student Craven:

The 18-year-old freshman who arrived on campus in the fall of 1957 was definitely more interested in the classics than, say, a clandestine train trip to Chicago to catch I Was a Teenage Werewolf at the Oriental Theater.

According to the hollywoodreporter.com: “A blend of horror and morbid humor, the “Nightmare” movies were a box-office phenomenon. He claimed to have gotten the idea for Elm Street when living next to a cemetery on Elm Street when growing up in the Midwest.”

His Twitter account tonight featured this tribute:

pic.twitter.com/eyXPs6ONPe
— Wes Craven (@wescraven) August 31, 2015

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Follow @MiriamDiNunzio//

Take the 1st job you can in the industry you want to get into. The job doesn't matter, getting your foot in the door does. #MondayMotivation
— Wes Craven (@wescraven) July 27, 2015