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Quick facts for kids Larry Cohen
Cohen in October 2010
Born	Lawrence George Cohen (1936-07-15)July 15, 1936 New York City, U.S.
Died	March 23, 2019(2019-03-23) (aged 82) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Alma mater	City College of New York
Occupation	Producer film director writer
Spouse(s)	Janelle Webb (div. 1980) Cynthia Costas (m. 1994)
Children	2
Relatives	Ronni Chasen (sister)

Lawrence George Cohen (born July 15, 1936 – died March 23, 2019) was an American filmmaker. He was a talented screenwriter, producer, and director for both movies and TV shows. Larry Cohen was especially famous for his horror and science fiction films from the 1970s and 1980s. These movies often mixed in detective stories and funny comments about society.

Some of his well-known films include It's Alive (1974), God Told Me To (1976), The Stuff (1985), and A Return to Salem's Lot (1987). Earlier in his career, he wrote films like Bone (1972) and Black Caesar (1973). Later, he focused mostly on writing screenplays for movies like Phone Booth (2002) and Cellular (2004).

Larry Cohen also created popular TV series such as Branded and The Invaders. In 2017, he received a special award for his lifetime of work at the Fantasia International Film Festival.

Early Life and Love for Movies
Larry Cohen's Career Journey
Personal Life
Death
Filmography
- Film
  - Acting Roles
- Television

Early Life and Love for Movies

Larry Cohen was born in Manhattan, New York City, on July 15, 1936. He grew up in the Riverdale area of the Bronx. His sister, Ronni Chasen, later became a publicist and worked with him.

From a young age, Larry loved movies. He would go to the movie theater at least twice a week. Often, he watched "double features," which meant he saw two movies back-to-back! This way, he watched at least four movies every week. He especially enjoyed detective stories and dark crime films. These movies often starred actors like Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney. He was also a big fan of director Michael Curtiz, who made famous films like Casablanca.

Larry Cohen studied film at the City College of New York.

Larry Cohen's Career Journey

Starting in Television

In the 1950s, Larry Cohen started working for the NBC TV network. There, he learned how to produce TV shows. Soon after, he began writing his own scripts for television. He created the TV series The Invaders. He also wrote episodes for other popular shows like The Defenders and The Fugitive.

He focused a lot on crime and detective stories for TV. He wrote many episodes for The Defenders (1964) and The Fugitive (1964–65). He also wrote for fantasy and suspense shows like Kraft Television Theatre (1958). In 1966, he wrote the movie script for Return of the Seven, a Western film. He even created another Western TV series called Branded (1965–1966).

Directing Movies in the 1970s

In the 1970s, Larry Cohen started directing movies, even though he kept writing for TV and film. His first movie as a director was the comedy Bone in 1972.

He then made the horror film It's Alive. He wrote, produced, and directed this movie. At first, it didn't do well, but after a new advertising campaign, it became a success. The movie earned over $7 million and led to two sequels: It Lives Again (1978) and It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987).

After It's Alive, he directed God Told Me To (1976). It Lives Again (1978) continued the story from the first movie.

Horror Films of the 1980s

During the 1980s, Larry Cohen directed and wrote many low-budget horror films. Often, the actor Michael Moriarty starred in these movies. One of these was Q, also known as Q: The Winged Serpent (1982). This film was about an ancient Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl, a winged serpent, that comes back to life in New York City. The movie was filmed in and around the famous Chrysler Building.

Larry Cohen and Michael Moriarty worked together again on The Stuff (1985). This movie was about a mysterious, yummy, and dangerous dessert. Moriarty also appeared in It's Alive 3: Island of the Alive (1987). Cohen finished the 1980s with Wicked Stepmother (1989), which was the last movie for the famous actress Bette Davis.

Focus on Screenwriting in the 1990s

In the 1990s, Larry Cohen directed fewer films. He made The Ambulance (1990), which was about a comic book artist investigating strange disappearances in New York City. He also directed the film Original Gangstas (1996).

For most of this decade, Cohen focused on writing. He wrote the sequels for the Maniac Cop film series. He also helped create the story for Body Snatchers (1993), a movie about an alien invasion. He worked on several TV projects too, including NYPD Blue.

Later Work in the 2000s

After the 1990s, Larry Cohen wrote fewer scripts. He only directed one project, an episode for the TV series Masters of Horror called "Pick Me Up" (2006).

His script for the movie Phone Booth (2002) was very popular in Hollywood. This movie was a big success, earning $98 million worldwide. It starred actors like Colin Farrell and Kiefer Sutherland.

His next film, Cellular (2004), also involved phones and was a moderate success. It starred Kim Basinger and Chris Evans. He also wrote the horror films Captivity (2007) and Messages Deleted (2009).

In 2003, Larry Cohen and his partner Martin Poll were involved in a lawsuit. They claimed that the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) copied their script called Cast of Characters.

In 2009, a remake of his 1974 film It's Alive was released. However, Larry Cohen himself said the remake was "terrible" and advised people who liked his original film to avoid seeing the new one.

Personal Life

Larry Cohen was married twice. His first marriage was to Janelle Webb, which ended in 1980. He then married Cynthia Costas in 1994. He had two daughters.

Death

Larry Cohen passed away from cancer on March 23, 2019, at his home in Beverly Hills, California. He was 82 years old.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1966	Return of the Seven	No	Yes	No
1966	I Deal in Danger	No	Yes	No
1969	Scream, Baby, Scream	No	Yes	No
	Daddy's Gone A-Hunting	No	Yes	No	Co-writer with Lorenzo Semple Jr.
	El Condor	No	Yes	No	Co-writer with Steven W. Carabatsos
1972	Bone	Yes	Yes	Yes
1973	Black Caesar	Yes	Yes	Yes
1973	Hell Up in Harlem	Yes	Yes	Yes
1974	It's Alive	Yes	Yes	Yes
1976	God Told Me To	Yes	Yes	Yes
1977	The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover	Yes	Yes	Yes
1978	It Lives Again	Yes	Yes	Yes
1980	The American Success Company	No	Yes	No
1981	Full Moon High	Yes	Yes	Yes
1981	I, the Jury	No	Yes	No
1982	Q	Yes	Yes	Yes
1984	Scandalous	No	Story	No
	Perfect Strangers	Yes	Yes	No
	Special Effects	Yes	Yes	No
1985	The Stuff	Yes	Yes	Yes
1987	It's Alive III: Island of the Alive	Yes	Yes	Executive
	A Return to Salem's Lot	Yes	Yes	Executive
	Best Seller	No	Yes	No
	Deadly Illusion	Yes	Yes	No
1988	Maniac Cop	No	Yes	Yes
1989	Wicked Stepmother	Yes	Yes	Executive
1990	The Ambulance	Yes	Yes	Yes
1990	Maniac Cop 2	No	Yes	Yes
1993	Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence	No	Yes	Co-producer
	Body Snatchers	No	Story	No
	Guilty as Sin	No	Yes	No
1996	Original Gangstas	Yes	No	No
1996	Uncle Sam	No	Yes	No
1997	The Ex	No	Yes	No
1997	Misbegotten	No	Yes	No
2002	Phone Booth	No	Yes	No
2004	Cellular	No	Story	No
2007	Captivity	No	Yes	No	Co-writer with Joseph Tura
2008	Connected	No	Story	No	Remake of 2004's Cellular
2009	It's Alive	No	Yes	No	Remake of 1974 film
2010	Messages Deleted	No	Yes	No

Acting Roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Spies Like Us	Ace Tomato Agent
2002	BaadAsssss Cinema	Himself	Television documentary film
2005	Make Your Own Movie!		Documentary film
2009	Nightmares in Red, White and Blue
2019	In Search of Darkness
2020	In Search of Darkness: Part II

Television

TV Movies

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer
1969	In Broad Daylight	No	Yes	No
1974	Shootout in a One-Dog Town	No	Story	No
1981	See China and Die	Yes	Yes	Yes
1983	Women of San Quentin	No	Story	No
1988	Desperado: Avalanche at Devil's Ridge	No	Yes	No
1995	As Good as Dead	Yes	Yes	Yes
2009	The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger	No	Yes	No

TV Series

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Creator	Producer	Notes
1958–1965	Kraft Television Theatre	No	Yes	No	No	Episodes: "The Eighty Seventh Precinct", "Night Cry" & "Kill No More"
1960	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater	No	Yes	No	No	Episode: "Killer Instinct"
1961	Way Out	No	Yes	No	No	Episode: "False Face"
	The United States Steel Hour	No	Yes	No	No	Episode: "The Golden Thirty"
	Checkmate	No	Yes	No	No	Episode: "Nice Guys Finish Last"
1963	Sam Benedict	No	Yes	No	No	Episode: "Accomplice"
1963	Arrest and Trial	No	Yes	No	No	Episode: "My Name is Martin Burham"
1963–1965	The Defenders	No	Yes	No	No	9 episodes
1964	Espionage	No	Yes	No	No	Episode: "Medal for a Turned Coat"
1964–1965	The Fugitive	No	Yes	No	No	2 episodes: "Escape into Black" and "Scapegoat"
1965–1966	Branded	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	48 episodes
1965–1966	Never Too Young	No	No	No	Executive	5 episodes
1966	Blue Light	No	Yes	Yes	No	17 episodes
	The Rat Patrol	No	Yes	No	No	Episode: "The Blind Man's Bluff Raid"
	Coronet Blue	No	Yes	Yes	No	11 episodes
1967–1968	The Invaders	No	Yes	Yes	No	43 episodes
1972	Cool Million	No	Yes	Yes	No	Episode: "Mask of Marcella"
1973–1974	Griff	No	Yes	Yes	No	13 episodes
1973–1974	Columbo	No	Yes	No	No	Episodes: "Any Old Port in a Storm", "Candidate for Crime" and "An Exercise in Fatality"
1995	NYPD Blue	No	Yes	No	No	Episode: "Dirty Socks"
2006	Masters of Horror	Yes	No	No	No	Episode: "Pick Me Up"

In Spanish: Larry Cohen para niños

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