Richard Donner, the Hollywood filmmaker best known for directing Superman, The Goonies and the Lethal Weapon films, died on Monday. He was 91. After news broke of his death, Lethal Weapon star Mel Gibson called Donner “magnanimous of heart and soul.” Gibson’s Lethal Weapon co-star Danny Glover also issued a statement, saying his “heart is broken” after Donner’s death.
Donner directed all four Lethal Weapon films, which starred Gibson as the younger, wild Sgt. Martin Riggs and Glover as the “too old for this s—” Sgt. Roger Murtaugh. The first film hit theaters in 1987 and cemented Gibson’s status as a superstar. Gibson, Glover, and Donner reunited in 1989, 1992, and 1998. Donner also directed Gibson in Conspiracy Theory (1997) with Julia Roberts and Maverick (1994) with James Garner and Jodie Foster.
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“Donner! My friend, my mentor. Oh, the things I learned from him,” Gibson said in a statement to Deadline Monday. “He undercut his own talent and greatness with a huge chunk of humility referring to himself as ‘merely a traffic cop.’ He left his ego at the door and required that of others. He was magnanimous of heart and soul, which he liberally gave to all who knew him. 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.”
“My heart is broken,” Glover said in his own statement to Deadline. “Working with Dick Donner, Mel Gibson and the Lethal Weapon Team was one of the proudest moments of my career. I will forever be grateful to him for that Dick genuinely cared about me, my life, and my family. 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.”
Donner’s production company announced his death to Variety. A cause of death was not revealed. Donner was truly one of the last living examples of a true Hollywood filmmaker who could direct in any genre and even any medium. After getting his start as a director on television in the late 1950s, he began directing films in the 1960s.
In 1976, Donner scored his breakthrough directing effort with the original The Omen, starring Gregory Peck. The success of that film led him to being hired for Superman (1978), which is still regarded by many as the definitive film take on Superman. His other films include The Goonies (1985), Ladyhawke (1985), Scrooged (1988), and his final film, 16 Blocks (2006). Incredibly, he was never nominated for an Oscar, but he did receive a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008, alongside his wife, film producer Lauren Shuler Donner, whom he married in 1986.
