The legendary Hollywood director Richard Donner has died at the age of 91.
He was most well known for films including Superman, The Goonies and Lethal Weapon.
It’s been reported that he died recently, according to his production company, The Donner’s Company, who confirmed the news to Variety.
The exact date or cause of his death has yet to be revealed.
Donner’s wife, the producer Lauren Schuler Donner, and his business manager confirmed the news to Deadline.
The director was responsible for many iconic movies that are much-loved around the world.
Donner’s first big break came with the cult horror classic ‘The Omen’ in 1976.
(Image: FilmMagic)
The success then led Richard to working on 1978’s ‘Superman’ (the original), and 1985’s ‘The Goonies’ and all of the ‘Lethal Weapon’ movies.
His incredible CV also included ‘The Lost Boys’, ‘Free Willy’ ‘X-Men’ and more.
As recently as last year, Donner expressed a wish to direct the 5th instalment of ‘Lethal Weapon’ and it was rumoured to be in the works.
(Image: Denver Post via Getty Images)
It would have seen him reuniting with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover for the film.
He promised: “This is the final one. It’s both my privilege and duty to put it to bed. It’s exciting, actually… Hahaha! It’s the last one, I’ll promise you that.”
He also directed festive classic ‘Scrooged’ in 1988.
Tributes are starting to pour in for the director.
(Image: Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Comic book writer Dan Slott wrote on Twitter: “Richard Donner’s SUPERMAN is the DNA, the fundamental building block, that all good super hero movies have been built from.”
“It was the earnest leap of faith, the single bound, that made us all believe that a man could fly.”
He was born Richard Donald Schwartzberg, and originally started his career on the other side of the camera as an actor.
Before making the leap to directing for the silver screen, Donner worked on series including “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” “The Twilight Zone,” “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” and “The Fugitive.”
Richard is survived by his wife Lauren Shuler Donner. The pair had been married since 1986.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
