Legendary American studio filmmaker Richard Donner has died at the age of 91. Donner’s wife and producing partner Lauren Schuler Donner, and his business manager, announced the news this morning but no cause of death has been released.
Donner is famed for essentially establishing superheroes and buddy cop comedies on the big screen with 1978’s “Superman” and 1987’s “Lethal Weapon”. He also helmed the first “Superman” sequel and all three subsequent “Lethal Weapon” sequels.
That however was just the start. He also directed legendary 1985 kids film “The Goonies,” the Bill Murray-led Christmas comedy staple “Scrooged,” iconic 1976 horror feature “The Omen,” and the 1985 high fantasy drama “Ladyhawke”.
There was also the well-regarded Gibson & Foster-led TV-to-film adaptation of “Maverick,” the Stallone-Banderas action feature “Assassins,” the Gibson & Roberts-led thriller “Conspiracy Theory,” the poorly received Richard Pryor film “The Toy,” the acclaimed handicap basketball drama “Inside Moves,” the coming of age tale “Radio Flyer,” and the adaptation of Michael Crichton’s “Timeline”.
Donner got his start directing numerous episodes of multiple classic TV series including “The Twilight Zone,” “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” “Perry Mason” and “The Wild Wild West” before jumping to dilm with the Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford-led crime comedy “Salt & Pepper” in 1968. His final film was 2006’s “16 Blocks”.
As an executive producer he was also behind the “Free Willy” and “Tales from the Crypt” franchises, “The Lost Boys,” “Any Given Sunday” and two “X-Men” films.
