The filmmaker worked across a variety of genres, and is best known for helming blockbusters like Superman, The Goonies, The Omen and Lethal Weapon.
Born Richard Donald Schwartzberg on April 24th, 1930, in New York City, Donner initially intended to become an actor. After befriending director Martin Ritt, Donner decided his destiny lay behind the camera. In the mid-50s he began directing commercials for Desilu, the company owned by Hollywood power couple Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball.
By the end of the decade Donner was working prolifically in TV, directing episodes of practically every major TV show of the late '50s and '60s. Among his TV work was the iconic Twilight Zone episode 'Nightmare at 20,000 Feet', in which a sweaty William Shatner has visions of a gremlin on the wing of a passenger plane. On shows like Combat! and The Man from UNCLE, Donner honed the skills he would later apply to his big budget action movies.
In 1968 Donner made his feature film directorial debut. Like his later hit Lethal Weapon, Salt and Pepper boasted inter-racial leading men, with Rat-Packers Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis Jr playing London nightclub owners who uncover a conspiracy to overthrow the government. Remaining in London, 1970 saw Donner direct Charles Bronson in Lola, a very much of its time comedy about a writer who becomes involved with a teenage girl played by Susan George.
Despite having two features under his belt, Donner found himself stuck in TV once again for the first half of the '70s, working on shows like The Streets of San Francisco, Kojak and Ironside. This was the golden age of the TV 'Movie of the Week', and Donner found himself praised for his sensitive direction of 1975's Sarah T: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic, which starred The Exorcist's Linda Blair as a troubled teen.
The raves for Sarah T saw Donner courted by Hollywood, and in 1976 he would land his first major gig. Now considered a classic of the horror genre, The Omen proved that Donner's talent was too great for the journeyman world of TV directing. He fashioned sequences that have gone down in history as some of the scariest ever put on film, terrifying cinemagoers to the tune of $60 million profit on a budget just under $3 million.
The success of The Omen saw Donner transform from a jobbing director to one of the most in-demand filmmakers in Hollywood. In 1978 he was hired by producing brothers Alexander and Ilya Salkind to bring comic book hero Superman to the big screen. Working with the sort of budget ($55 million) he could only have dreamed of just a couple of years prior, Donner attracted star names like Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman and Terence Stamp to the project. It was his discovery of a young actor named Christopher Reeve that was Donner's real coup, with Reeve embodying the title character over four movies of ever decreasing quality.
The film's sequel, Superman II, was filmed simultaneously but when Donner fell out with the Salkinds over creative differences he was replaced by British director Richard Lester. Donner's vision for the sequel would ultimately be restored in 2006 with the blu-ray release of Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, which fans hailed as superior to Lester's version.
After a couple of post-Superman flops, Donner returned with a bang in 1985 with The Goonies. Now considered a classic of the '80s, the movie saw Donner directing a story by Steven Spielberg. That same year he worked in the fantasy genre, directing Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Broderick in Ladyhawke. Audiences failed to embrace that film, which couldn't even make back its budget, but it's since developed a cult following.
In 1987 Donner returned to more adult fare with Lethal Weapon. A classic buddy cop movie, the film paired Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as maverick cop Martin Riggs and his stressed out veteran partner Roger Murtaugh. The movie was another monster hit for Donner, who returned to direct three sequels.
In 1988 Donner displayed his comic chops, directing Bill Murray in Scrooged, an unconventional take on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
Donner returned to action in the 1990s with movies like Maverick, Assassins and Conspiracy Theory. He became less prolific in the 21st century, with just two credits – 2003's Timeline and 2006's 16 Blocks.
In December, 2020, Donner announced that he would return to direct a fifth Lethal Weapon, claiming it would be the last movie he would direct.
In a tribute on Twitter, Steven Spielberg called Donner "The greatest Goonie of all. He was all kid. All heart. All the time."
