Richard Donner

Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg; April 24, 1930 – July 5, 2021) was an American film director and producer who directed some of the most financially successful films during the New Hollywood era. According to film historian Michael Barson, Donner was "one of Hollywood's most reliable makers of action blockbusters". His career spanned over 50 years, crossing multiple genres and filmmaking trends.

Donner began his career in 1957 as a television director. In the 1960s, Donner directed episodes of the series The Rifleman, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Fugitive, The Twilight Zone, The Banana Splits, and many others. He made his film debut with the low-budget aviation drama X-15 in 1961, but had his critical and commercial breakthrough with the horror film The Omen in 1976. He directed the landmark superhero film Superman in 1978, which provided an inspiration for the fantasy film genre to eventually gain artistic respectability and commercial dominance. Donner later went on to direct films in the 1980s such as The Goonies and Scrooged, while reinvigorating the buddy cop film genre with the Lethal Weapon series.

Donner and his wife Lauren owned their production company The Donners' Company (formerly Donner/Shuler Donner Productions), best known for co-executive producing the Free Willy and X-Men franchises. Donner also produced the Tales from the Crypt television series and co-wrote several comic books for Superman publisher DC Comics. In 2000, Donner received the President's Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.

Source: Wikidata , August 2023