Richard Donner obit

Richard Donner Dies: ‘Superman’, ‘Lethal Weapon’ And ‘The Goonies’ Director Was 91

 

He was not on the list.

Richard Donner, the prolific Hollywood director and producer whose helming credits include some of the most iconic movies of the 1970s and ’80s including the Christopher Reeve-starring Superman, The Goonies and the Mel Gibson-Danny Glover buddy cop series Lethal Weapon, has died. He was 91.

Donner died Monday, according to his wife, the producer Lauren Schuler Donner, and his business manager. No cause of death has been revealed.

The Bronx-born Donner, a genial man with a booming voice, started his career directing for television, like his film credits a laundry list of staple shows including Route 66, The Rifleman, The Twilight Zone, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Gilligan’s Island, Perry Mason and The Wild Wild West. After his debut feature, the 1968 crime comedy Salt & Pepper starring Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford, and 1969’s Lola with Charles Bronson and Susan George, Donner segued to films full time with 1976’s spooky The Omen.

That led to 1978’s Superman, the original superhero movie that starred Reeve as the Man of Steel along with Margot Kidder, Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman. The Warner Bros blockbuster with a budget of about $55 million grossed more than $300 million at the global box office. The first movie tentpole based on a superhero comic character, it scored three Oscar nominations and won a special Academy Award for its visual effects. It also cast the die for the superhero franchise now dominated by the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Universe of films.

A dispute with the producers famously resulted in Donner taking his name off directing Superman II when Richard Lester was brought in after Donner had shot the majority of the movie; a director’s cut of the film with many of excised Donner-directed scenes was released in 2006.

By that time however Donner had moved on to other blockbuster successes in all genres, directing Jackie Gleason and Richard Pryor in comedy The Toy (1982), and in the same year the medieval period adventure Ladyhawke and the seminal kids adventure pic The Goonies, a script penned by Chris Columbus based on a story by Steven Spielberg.

Those were followed by another franchise-launching movie at Warner Bros, 1987’s Lethal Weapon, in a role that turned Mad Max star Gibson into a global superstar. Donner directed all four of the Lethal Weapon movies in an 11-year span grossing more than $900 million globally.

Donner and Gibson would reteam as director and star in the movies Maverick (1994) and Conspiracy Theory (1997). His directing credits also include the 1988 Christmas staple Scrooged with Bill Murray; the 1980 drama Inside Moves with John Savage and David Morse co-written by Barry Levinson; and 1992’s coming-of-age drama Radio Flyer.

As a producer, Donner and his producer-wife Lauren Schuler Donner produced dozens of films under their The Donners’ Company production banner including the X-Men franchise (Lauren Schuler Donner produced; Richard Donner was an EP) that has spawned a remarkable 13 films over a two-decade span at 20th Century Fox/20th Century Studios including introducing Ryan Reynolds’ smart-aleck Deadpool. The latest pic in the X-Men series, The New Mutants, bowed in August 2020. In total, those films grossed nearly $2.5 billion globally.

Filmography

Film

Year       Title       Director                Producer              Notes

1961      X-15       Yes                        

1968      Salt and Pepper                Yes                        

1969      Lola        Yes                        

1976      The Omen           Yes                        

1978      Superman           Yes                         Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation

Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Director

1980      Superman II (2006 director's cut)               Yes                         Uncredited for theatrical release

Inside Moves     Yes                        

1982      The Toy                Yes                        

1985      The Goonies       Yes         Yes        

Ladyhawke         Yes         Yes         Nominated – Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation

1987      Lethal Weapon Yes         Yes        

1988      Scrooged             Yes         Yes        

1989      Lethal Weapon 2              Yes         Yes        

1992      Radio Flyer          Yes                        

Lethal Weapon 3              Yes         Yes        

1994      Maverick              Yes         Yes        

1995      Assassins             Yes         Yes        

1997      Conspiracy Theory           Yes         Yes        

1998      Lethal Weapon 4              Yes         Yes        

2002      Tales from the Crypt: Ritual                         Yes        

2003      Timeline               Yes         Yes        

2006      16 Blocks             Yes                        

 

Executive Producer

    Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)

    The Lost Boys (1987)

    Delirious (1991)

    Free Willy (1993)

    Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995)

    Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)

    Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood (1996)

    Free Willy 3: The Rescue (1997)

    Any Given Sunday (1999)

    X-Men (2000)

    X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

 

Television

Year       Title       Notes

1957      Men of Annapolis             Wrote 4 episodes (only screenwriting credit in career)

1960      Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre                1 episode

The DuPont Show with June Allyson

1960–61               Wanted Dead or Alive    6 episodes

1961      Letter to Loretta               5 episodes

Route 66              1 episode

The Tall Man      2 episodes

Wagon Train      1 episode

1961–62               Have Gun – Will Travel   5 episodes

1962      The Detectives 1 episode

The Rifleman      7 episodes

1962–63               Sam Benedict     6 episodes

1963      The Eleventh Hour           2 episodes

Combat!               1 episode

The Nurses

1963–1964          The Lieutenant 2 episodes

The Twilight Zone             6 episodes

Mr. Novak           7 episodes

1964      The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters             1 episode

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.              4 episodes

1964–1965          Gilligan's Island 3 episodes

Perry Mason

1965      Twelve O'Clock High        4 episodes

Get Smart            2 episodes

1966      The F.B.I.             1 episode

The Fugitive        2 episodes

It's About Time 1 episode

Jericho

The Wild Wild West        3 episodes

The Felony Squad

1968–1969          The Banana Splits Adventure Hour           6 episodes

1971      The Interns         1 episode

Sarge

Bearcats!             2 episodes

1971–1972          Cade's County    3 episodes

1971–1973          Cannon                 4 episodes

1972      The Sixth Sense                 1 episode

Ghost Story

Banyon

Ironside

The Bold Ones: The New Doctors               3 episodes

1973–1974          Kojak

1974      The Streets of San Francisco        2 episodes

Sons and Daughters        3 episodes

Lucas Tanner      1 episode

Petrocelli

1975      Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic              Television film

Bronk    2 episodes

1989–1992          Tales from the Crypt       3 episodes

Also executive producer

Nominated – CableACE Award for Best Dramatic Series

1992      Two-Fisted Tales               Television film

Segment: "Showdown"

1993–1994          Tales from the Cryptkeeper         Executive producer

1996–1997          Secrets of the Cryptkeeper's Haunted House

1997      Perversions of Science

1999      Made Men          Producer

Television film