Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg; April 24, 1930 – July 5, 2021) was an American filmmaker. Described as "one of Hollywood's most reliable makers of action blockbusters", Donner directed some of the most financially successful films of the 1970s and 1980s. His career spanning more than six decades crossed genres and influenced trends among filmmakers across the world. Donner began his career in 1957 as a television director. In the 1960s, he 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. Donner 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 a production company, The Donners' Company, which is most successful for producing the Free Willy and X-Men film franchises. Donner also produced Tales from the Crypt 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 and Horror Films. Description above from the Wikipedia article Richard Donner, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

• Cursed Films — Self - Director, The Omen
• 2013Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics
• 2009X-Men Origins: Wolverine — Executive Producer
• 2008Starz Inside: Comic Books Unbound — Self - Director, Superman: The Movie
• 200616 Blocks — Man Holding a Birthday Cake (uncredited), Director
• 2006Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut — Man Walking by Diner (uncredited), Director
• 2003Timeline — Man in Car (uncredited), Producer, Director
• 2002Ritual — Producer
• 2001Out Cold — Snooty Bartender (uncredited)
• 2000666: The Omen Revealed
• 2000X-Men — Executive Producer
• 1999Any Given Sunday — Executive Producer
• 1999Made Men — Producer
• 1999Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection — Producer
• 1998Lethal Weapon 4 — Director, Producer
• 1997Conspiracy Theory — Cab Passenger (uncredited), Producer, Director
• 1997Double Tap — Producer
• 1997Free Willy 3: The Rescue — Executive Producer
• Perversions of Science — Executive Producer
• 1996Bordello of Blood — Executive Producer
• E! True Hollywood Story
• 1995Assassins — Director, Producer
• 1995Film Music Masters: Jerry Goldsmith
• 1995Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home — Executive Producer
• 1995Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight — Executive Producer
• 1995The Omen — Executive Producer
• The Omen — Executive Producer
• 1995W.E.I.R.D. World — Executive Producer
• Free Willy — Executive Producer
• 1994Maverick — Dealer (uncredited), Producer, Director
• 1993Free Willy — Executive Producer
• 1992Lethal Weapon 3 — Director, Producer
• 1992Radio Flyer — Director
• 1992Two-Fisted Tales — Director, Executive Producer
• 1991Delirious — Executive Producer
• 1989Lethal Weapon 2 — Producer, Director
• Tales from the Crypt — Man at Bar (uncredited), Director, Executive Producer
• 1988Scrooged — Director, Producer
• 1987Lethal Weapon — Producer, Director
• 1987The Lost Boys — Executive Producer
• 1985Ladyhawke — Producer, Director
• 1985The Goonies — Policeman (uncredited), Director, Producer
• 1982The Toy — Director
• 1981The Final Conflict — Executive Producer
• 1980Inside Moves — Man who closes the ambulance doors (uncredited), Director
• 1980Superman II — Man Walking by Diner (uncredited)
• 1978Superman — Man in Street (extended version) (uncredited), Director
• 1976The Omen — Director
• 1975A Shadow in the Streets — Director
• Bronk — Director
• 1975Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic — Director
• 1974Lucas Tanner — Director
• Petrocelli — Director
• 1974Senior Year — Director
• Sons and Daughters — Director
• Kojak — Director
• 1973Nightside — Director
• Banyon — Director
• Ghost Story — Director
• 1972Sam Cade — Director
• 1972The Marshal of Madrid — Director
• The Streets of San Francisco — Director
• Bearcats! — Director
• Cannon — Director
• Sarge — Director
• The Interns — Director
• 1970Twinky — Director
• The Bold Ones: The New Doctors — Director
• 1968Salt & Pepper — Director
• Ironside — Director
• Felony Squad — Director
• It's About Time — Director
• Jericho — Director
• Get Smart — Director
• The F.B.I. — Director
• The Trials of O'Brien — Director
• The Wild Wild West — Director
• 12 O'Clock High — Director
• Gilligan's Island — Director
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. — Inebriate, Director
• Mr. Novak — Director
• 1963Philbert (Three's a Crowd) — Director
• The Fugitive — Director
• The Lieutenant — Director
• The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters — Director
• Combat! — Director
• Sam Benedict — Grover Stann, Director
• The Eleventh Hour — Director
• 1961X-15 — Director
• Route 66 — Director
• The Tall Man — Director
• The Detectives — Director
• The Twilight Zone — Director
• The Rifleman — Director
• Wanted: Dead or Alive — Director
• Have Gun, Will Travel — Director
• Perry Mason — Director
• Wagon Train — Director
• Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre — Director
• Lassie — Clay Braddock
• Letter to Loretta — Director
• Lethal Weapon 5 — Screenplay

Appearances as themselves (33)

• 2024Frank Miller: American Genius — Self
• 2024Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story — Self (archive footage)
• Superpowered: The DC Story — Self (archive footage)
• Reunited Apart — Self
• 2019Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film — Self
• 2019Valerie — Self
• 2018Davi's Way — Self
• Eli Roth's History of Horror — Self
• 2017Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies — Self
• 2017Life After Flash — Self
• 2016Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond — Self
• 2014Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire — Self - Filmmaker
• 2013Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot — Self
• 2012Casting By — Self
• 2012Maximum Impact: The Legacy of 'Lethal Weapon' — Self
• 2010Making of a Cult Classic: The Unauthorized Story of 'The Goonies' — Self
• 2010Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics — Self (archive footage)
• 2009No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos — Self
• 2006Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman — Self
• 2006Superman II: Restoring the Vision — Self
• 2006You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman — Self
• 2005The Curse of 'The Omen' — Self
• 2001Making 'Superman': Filming the Legend — Self
• 2001Taking Flight: The Development of 'Superman' — Self
• 2001The Omen Legacy — Self
• HBO First Look — Self
• 1989First Works — Self
• 1989Mel Gibson's Unauthorized Video Diary — Self
• 1987The Ultimate Stuntman: A Tribute to Dar Robinson — Himself
• 1986Scream Greats, Vol.2: Satanism and Witchcraft — Himself
• 1985The Making Of The Goonies — Self
• 1982The Making of 'Superman: The Movie' — Self
• Superhero Nation — Self