His legacy will forever be remembered as the zombie movie maestro, but sadly, aged 77, George A Romero has died.
He directed the 1968 classic Night Of The Living Dead, but passed away on Sunday with his wife and daughter by his side.
A statement released said that he had suffered from a 'brief but aggressive battle with lung cancer'.
Night Of The Living Dead was subsequently followed up by other benchmark zombie movies Dawn Of The Dead, Day Of The Dead, Land Of The Dead, and Diary Of The Day - all directed by Romero.
Credit: PA
His films will always be classified in the post-watershed category, with their over-the-top gore scenes, but despite the reduced audience size he helped revolutionise a much untouched market.
He had lasting relationships with special effect gurus Tom Savini and Greg Nicotero, which have continued their legacy into the modern world, helping with features still prevalent in The Walking Dead.
Romero also led the way in diversity, often casting strong women and different races as the heroes in his films, decades before Hollywood started paying attention to such issues.
Many were quick to react to the death of Romero, with a mixture of sadness and celebration of his work.
Actor and writer Kumail Nanjiani called him a 'true legend', adding that he 'started a new genre on his own. Who else can claim that?'.
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Ted Geoghegan, a fellow director, stated that Dawn Of The Dead was one of the 'greatest films in the history of cinema' and continued to say that 'we were so much richer for having Romero in our lives'.
Filmmaker Eli Roth wrote: "Romero used genre to confront racism 50 years ago. He always had diverse casts, with Duane Jones as the heroic star of Night Of The Living Dead'.
Roth added that Romero's work was still prevalent in recent films such as Get Out, and claimed he was 'ahead of his time' and 'exactly what cinema needed'.
Featured Image Credit: PA
