Richard Donner: director of “Superman” and “Lethal Weapon” is dead

“The Omen”, “Superman” and then “Lethal Weapon”: With the blockbuster series about the unequal cops Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh, Richard Donner finally made the leap into the ranks of Hollywood’s best action directors. Since 1987 he sent Mel Gibson and Danny Glover four times as cops in Los Angeles on the hunt for criminals, most recently in 1998 in “Lethal Weapon – two professionals clean up”. Now the cult director has died at the age of 91.

His wife, producer Lauren Shuler Donner, confirmed his death on Monday without naming the cause of death. “He was a great man. I was a very, very happy woman. But he was very sick, so it was time for him to go,” she told Deadline.com.

Richard Donner actually wanted to be an actor

Born in New York, he was first on stage in the 1950s and wanted to be a film actor when he was reprimanded by Hollywood director Martin Ritt (“The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”). “You won’t be told anything. It’s better if you become a director,” Ritt recommended to him at the time, Donner told an Oscar Academy honor gala in June 2017. The film association paid tribute to the director for his long career. “I’m the happiest person in the world,” Donner said, referring to the many friendships he made in Hollywood over the years.

Numerous companions, including Danny Glover and Mel Gibson, congratulated the director at the time. “He’s a bloody genius,” Gibson said enthusiastically on the Oscar Academy stage.

The breakthrough in Hollywood came with “The Omen”

Donner finally took the advice of director Martin Ritt to heart. He gave up acting and became Ritt’s assistant director. He first learned his trade behind the television camera. In the 1960s and 1970s he made episodes of hit series such as “The Twilight Zone”, “Cannon”, “Kojak” and “The Streets of San Francisco”.

Then he came across the script for an occult horror film and brought “The Omen” (1976) to the big screen. For the creepy story about the son of the devil, who grows up as a little boy in a diplomatic family, he was able to win Gregory Peck and Lee Remick in the leading roles. The shocker was a blockbuster, Donner became famous almost overnight in Hollywood.

Two years later he landed the next blockbuster with “Superman” (1978). Christopher Reeve transforms himself from the shy reporter Clark Kent into the steely superhero. At the Academy Awards, “Superman” won the trophy for best special effects.

Hollywood stars mourn Richard Donner

Donner had success in many genres in his long career: “The Toy” (1982) was a comedy about a spoiled offspring. Steven Spielberg was on board as a producer for the adventure film “The Goonies” about a gang of youngsters looking for treasure. And in the fantasy romance “Der Tag des Falken” he brought Michelle Pfeiffer and Rutger Hauer together. Mel Gibson was there again when Donner directed the western comedy “Maverick” with Jodie Foster and James Garner.

Many Hollywood greats mourned Thunder’s death on Monday. “He was magnanimous with heart and soul,” said Mel Gibson, according to Deadline.com. “I will miss him deeply, with all his mischievous wit and wisdom.” Steven Spielberg said goodbye to his companion in grandiose words: Spending time with him was like being with “your favorite trainer, the brightest professor, the wildest motivator, the most lovable friend, the most loyal ally”. “He was all child. All heart. All the time. I can’t believe he’s gone, but his hoarse, hearty laugh will always stay with me.”

At the end of his long career, Donner was still delivering fast-paced action cinema. In his last directorial work, the thriller “16 Blocks” (2006), Bruce Willis plays a listless, aged cop who is once again in top form by working on the streets of New York.

Together with his wife Lauren Shuler and their joint production company, Donner stayed in business. Shuler was a young producer on “Der Tag des Falken” as early as 1985 and was then his wife. The couple produced most of Donner’s films, and Shuler also made a career out of the “X-Men” series with hits like “Deadpool” and “Logan – The Wolverine”.

Many fans hoped in vain that Donner would make another “Lethal Weapon” film in old age. In January 2020, producer Dan Lin (“Sherlock Holmes”, “The Two Popes”) had promised a fifth part with the original team around Gibson, Glover and Donner, which was not realized in the end.