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Legendary horror director Wes Craven dead at 76

WATCH ABOVE: Wes Craven created the kind of stuff nightmares are made of. The Hollywood director died Sunday at the age of 76. Mike Drolet looks back at how the maestro of horror frightened fans for 40 years.

TORONTO – Wes Craven, the legendary director behind horror classics like the Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream movies, died Sunday according to a statement posted on his Twitter account. He was 76.

According to multiple reports Craven died at his home in Los Angeles and had been battling brain cancer.

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Craven terrified audiences for decades with his films and was credited with reinventing the teen horror genre with the 1984 release of A Nightmare on Elm Street starring a young Johnny Depp and featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character.

WATCH: Craven enjoyed scaring fans over and over again.

The director was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and directed his first feature film, The Last House on the Left, in 1972.

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Aside from his horror films, Craven also directed the drama Music of the Heart, which earned Meryl Streep an Oscar nomination.

Craven is survived by his wife, producer Iya Labunka, a son, a daughter and a stepdaughter.

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