Danny Glover Mourns ‘Lethal Weapon’ Director Richard Donner After His Death

Danny Glover is morning the loss of prolific Hollywood director and producer Richard Donner. Donner died Monday at the age of 91, his wife, the producer Lauren Schuler Donner, and his business manager confirmed. No cause of death was revealed. After learning of Donner’s passing, Glover told Deadline that his “heart is broken.”

Glover and Donner had worked together on the late ’80s and early ’90s Lethal Weapon film series, with Donner directing as Glover starred as Sgt. Roger Murtaugh across the four films, which were released in 1987, 1989, 1992, and 1998. Reflecting on their work together, Glover said Lethal Weapon “was one of the proudest moments of my career” and said he “will forever be grateful to him for that Dick genuinely cared about me, my life and my family.” In his statement, Glover said “we were friends and loved each other far beyond collaborating for the screen and the success that the Lethal Weapon franchise brought us. I will so greatly miss him.”

Glover is just one of many celebrities to pay tribute to the late director, who directed iconic movies of the 1970s and ’80s like Superman and The Goonies. Glover’s Lethal Weapon co-star, Mel Gibson, also paid homage to Donner. In his own statement to Variety, Gibson called Donner his “friend” and his “mentor” who “undercut his own talent and greatness with a huge chunk of humility referring to himself as ‘merely a traffic cop.’” Gibson said Donner “was magnanimous of heart and soul, which he liberally gave to all who knew him,” and added, “if we piled up all the good deeds he did, it would stretch to some uncharted place in the firmament. I will sorely miss him, with all his mischievous wit and wisdom.”

Donner’s fellow director Steven Spielberg, who wrote the story for The Goonies, said Donner “had such a powerful command of his movies, and was so gifted across so many genres.” He added that “being in his circle was akin to hanging out with your favorite coach, smartest professor, fiercest motivator, most endearing friend, staunchest ally, and — of course — the greatest Goonie of all” Sylvester Stallone, who starred in Donner’s 1995 film Assassins, remembered Donner as “a man’s man, extremely talented! Great sense of humor, his big laughter was like rolling thunder.”

Donner’s career in film and television spanned six decades, first beginning in the late 1950s with his start as a director on television. He began directing films in the 1960s and scored his breakthrough directing effort with the original The Omen in 1976. He went on to Superman (1978), with his other credits including The Goonies (1985), Ladyhawke (1985), Scrooged (1988), and his final film, 16 Blocks (2006).