Last week we lost Richard Donner, one of the most successful directors of the last 40 years. Richard Donner began his career as an actor but soon switched to directing. In the 1960s, he made his first film X-15, with Charles Bronson but even though it was not a bad film, he chose to get some directing experience on television with series like THE TWILIGHT ZONE and THE MAN FROM UNCLE. In the 1970s he broke through with THE OMEN, the 1976 blockbuster horror film for which Jerry Goldsmith won his one and only Oscar. He followed this film with SUPERMAN, THE MOVIE but the production of this film was also a story onto itself.
In the 1980s he also directed LADYHAWKE and began a franchise with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover that ran 4 movies: LETHAL WEAPON. Rumor had it that Donner had been prepping to get under way with a fifth and final LETHAL WEAPON film. It would be a real shame if this were so and we won't get it now. Richard Donner and his wife Lauren Schuler Donner also later produced The X-Men films. But if it is one movie we will take to our grave from Richard Donner, it will be SUPERMAN, THE MOVIE. The best SUPERMAN film ever made and never surpassed. Thank you, Richard Donner.
Christopher Reeve and Richard Donner
