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Wes Craven, the legendary horror director best known for A Nightmare On Elm Street and the Scream series, has died after a battle with brain cancer. He was 76.Craven was born August 2, 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio. After getting his start working in porn movies, he would go on to direct 1972's The Last House On The Left.
That would be the first of over 20 director credits in a storied career, which would eventually include 1977's The Hills Have Eyes and 1984's A Nightmare On Elm Street, which The Wrap says "reinvented the youth horror genre." He would once-again revitalize slasher films with 1996's Scream, which spawned three sequels. His last feature film credit was 2011's Scream 4.
His first non-horror/thriller full-length film, 1999's Music Of The Heart, earned its star Meryl Streep an Oscar nomination.
Craven remained working until the end, and was attached to several TV projects before he died. He is credited as an executive producer on MTV's Scream TV series, which premiered this summer.
According to a statement from his family, Craven passed away on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. "Craven was surrounded by love, in the presence of his family at his Los Angeles home," read the statement.
— Wes Craven (@wescraven) August 31, 2015
