Corman was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Anne (née High) and William Corman, an engineer of Russian Jewish descent. His younger brother, Gene, produced numerous films, sometimes in collaboration with Roger. Corman was raised in his mother's Catholic faith.
Corman went to Beverly Hills High School and then to Stanford University to study industrial engineering. While at Stanford, Corman realized he did not want to be an engineer. He enlisted in the V-12 Navy College Training Program when he still had six months of study to complete. After serving in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946, he returned to Stanford to finish his degree, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering in 1947. While at Stanford University, Corman was initiated in the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
In 1948, he worked briefly at U.S. Electrical Motors on Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles, but his career in engineering lasted only four days; he began work on Monday and quit on Thursday, telling his boss "I've made a terrible mistake." Soon after that he found work at 20th Century Fox as a messenger in the mail room, earning $32.50 per week.
