RICHARD DONNER

(24 April 1930 - 5 July 2021)

The American producer-director Richard Donner, who has died aged 91, was born Richard D. Schwartzberg in New York City to Russian Jewish parents. His first thought for a career was to be an actor but after Martin Ritt cast him in a small television part he suggested Donner should become a director. He subsequently became Ritt’s assistant and then joined the Desilu company to direct commercials and later on began directing TV dramas such as Wanted Dead or Alive, with Steve McQueen, among many others. From 1957 until his first major film, The Omen, in 1976 he directed some fifty television series including Route 66, Wagon Train, The Detectives, The Twilight Zone, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Perry Mason, Get Smart, The Fugitive, Cannon, Ironside, Kojak and The Streets of San Francisco. His first feature was actually X-15 in 1961 with Charles Bronson. Then in 1968 he helmed Salt and Pepper with Sammy Davis Jr and Peter Lawford, and in 1969 made Lola (aka Twinky, and also London Affair) with Bronson and Susan George. But the big one came with The Omen, after which Donner made only a handful of TV programmes. Superman and Superman II were also big hits, as were The Goonies, Ladyhawke, Lethal Weapon (and its three sequels), Scrooged, Maverick, Assassins and Conspiracy Theory. His last film as director was 16 Blocks with Bruce Willis in 2006. Apart from directing, Donner also executive-produced such titles as Omen III, The Lost Boys, Free Willy, Tales From the Crypt, X-Men and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He was also a writer for comic books published by Action Comics and DC Comics. Richard Donner was married to the Hollywood producer Lauren Shuler Donner from 1986 until his death in 2021.

MICHAEL DARVELL