Donner, Richard 1930–

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Donner, Richard 1930–

(Dick Donner, R. D. Donner, Richard D. Donner)

PERSONAL

Original name, Richard Donald Schwartzberg; born April 24, 1930, in New York, NY; son of Fred (in the furniture business) and Hattie (an actress) Schwartzberg; married Lauren Shuler (a producer and actress), 1985. Education: Attended Packer Junior College; studied theatre and business at New York University.

Addresses: Office—Donners' Company, 9465 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 430, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. Agent—William Morris Agency, One William Morris Place, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Career: Director, producer, writer, and actor. Director of documentary films, industrial films, and commercials, beginning in 1958. Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions/Decade, founder (with Lauren Shuler Donner and others); Donners' Company, Beverly Hills, CA, founder. Also known as Dick Donner.

Member: Directors Guild of America.

Awards, Honors: Saturn Award nomination, best director, Academy of Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Films, 1979, for Superman; MTV Movie Award, best action sequence, 1993, for Lethal Weapon 3; Hollywood Discovery Award, outstanding achievement in directing, Hollywood Film Festival, 2000; President's Award, Academy of Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Films, 2000; Joseph L. Mankiewicz Excellence in Filmmaking Award, Director's View Film Festival, 2002.

CREDITS

Film Work:

(As Richard D. Donner) Director, X-15, United Artists, 1961.

(As Richard D. Donner; with Gerry Chiniquy) Director, Philbert (Three's a Crowd) (animated short), Warner Bros., 1963, originally broadcast as a television pilot, ABC, c. 1963.

Director, Salt and Pepper, United Artists, 1968.

Director, Twinky (also known as Lola, London Affair, and Statutory Affair), American International Pictures, 1969.

Director, The Omen (also known as The Antichrist, Birthmark, Omen I, Omen I: The Antichrist, and Omen I: The Birthmark), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1976.

Director, Superman (also known as Superman: The Movie), Warner Bros., 1978.

(Uncredited) Director (with Richard Lester), Superman II, Warner Bros., 1980, alternate version released as Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, Warner Home Video, 2006.

Director, Inside Moves, Associated Film Distributors, 1981.

Executive producer, The Final Conflict (also known as The Omen III: The Final Conflict), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1981.

Director and executive producer, The Toy, Columbia, 1982.

Director of archive footage from The Omen, Terror in the Aisles (also known as Time for Terror), Universal, 1984.

Director and coproducer, The Goonies, Warner Bros., 1985.

Director and producer, Ladyhawke, Warner Bros., 1985.

Director and producer, Lethal Weapon, Warner Bros., 1987.

Executive producer, The Lost Boys, Warner Bros., 1987.

Director and producer, Scrooged, Paramount, 1988.

Director and producer, Lethal Weapon 2, Warner Bros., 1989.

Executive producer, Delirious, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1991.

Director and coproducer, Radio Flyer, Columbia, 1992.

Director and producer, Lethal Weapon 3, Warner Bros., 1992.

Executive producer, Free Willy (also known as Sauvez Willy), Warner Bros., 1993.

Director and producer, Maverick, Warner Bros., 1994.

Director and producer, Assassins (also known as Day of Reckoning), Warner Bros., 1995.

Executive producer, Demon Knight (also known as Demon Keeper and Tales from the Crypt Presents "Demon Knight"), Universal, 1995.

Executive producer, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (also known as Free Willy 2 and Sauvez Willy 2), Warner Bros., 1995.

Executive producer, Bordello of Blood (also known as Dead Easy and Tales from the Crypt Presents: "Bordello of Blood"), Universal, 1996.

Director and producer, Conspiracy Theory, Warner Bros., 1997.

Executive producer, Free Willy 3: The Rescue, Warner Bros., 1997.

Director and producer, Lethal Weapon 4 (also known as Lethal 4), Warner Bros., 1998.

Executive producer, Any Given Sunday (also known as Gridiron, The League, Monday Night, On Any Given Sunday, and Playing Hurt), Warner Bros., 1999.

Executive producer, X-Men (also known as X-Men 1.5 and X-Men: The Movie), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1999.

Executive producer, WiseGirls (also known as Wise Girls and Wisegirls), Leading Pictures/Intermedia Films/Lions Gate Films, 2001.

Producer, Ritual (also known as Revelation, Voodoo, Tales from the Crypt Presents: "Revelation," and Tales from the Crypt Presents: "Voodoo"), Miramax/Dimension Films, 2001.

Director and producer, Timeline, Paramount, 2003.

Director, 16 Blocks (also known as Sixteen Blocks), Warner Bros., 2006.

Assisted on the film The Verne Miller Story (also known as Gangland and Verne Miller), Alive Films, 1987. Some sources cite Donner as an executive producer of Constantine (also known as Hellblazer and John Constantine: Hellblazer), Warner Bros., 2005.

Film Appearances:

(Uncredited) Man on street (cameo in expanded edition), Superman (also known as Superman: The Movie), Warner Bros., 1978.

(Uncredited) Man walking by diner, Superman II, Warner Bros., 1980, alternate version released as Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, Warner Home Video, 2006.

(Uncredited) Police officer, The Goonies, Warner Bros., 1985.

(Uncredited) Cab passenger, Conspiracy Theory, Warner Bros., 1997.

Himself, Scene Smoking: Cigarettes, Cinema & the Myth of Cool (documentary), 2001.

(Uncredited) Snobbish bartender, Out Cold (also known as Ten to One and 10 to 1), Buena Vista, 2001.

(Uncredited) Man in car, Timeline, Paramount, 2003.

(Uncredited) Man holding a birthday cake, 16 Blocks (also known as Sixteen Blocks), Warner Bros., 2006.

Himself, Who Needs Sleep? (documentary), 2006.

Television Executive Producer; Series:

(With Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, Walter Hill, and David Giler) Tales from the Crypt (also known as HBO's "Tales from the Crypt"), HBO, 1989–96, Fox, 1994–96.

(And creator) Tales from the Cryptkeeper (animated; also known as New Tales from the Cryptkeeper), ABC, 1993–95.

Free Willy (animated), ABC, 1994–96.

Secrets of the Cryptkeeper's Haunted House, CBS, beginning c. 1996.

Perversions of Science, HBO, 1997.

Television Work; Movies:

Director, Sarah T.—Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic, NBC, 1975.

Director, A Very Special Place, 1977.

Executive producer, W.E.I.R.D. World (also known as WEIRD World), Fox, 1995.

Executive producer, The Escape, The Movie Channel, 1997.

Producer, Double Tap, HBO, 1997.

Producer, Made Men, HBO, 1999.

Television Director; Episodic:

(As R. D. Donner) "So Young the Savage Land," Zane Grey Theater (also known as Dick Powell's "Zane Grey Theater" and The Westerners), CBS, 1960.

"The Twain Shall Meet," Wanted: Dead or Alive, CBS, 1960.

"A Bridge across Five Days," Route 66, CBS, 1961.

"The Last Retreat," Wanted: Dead or Alive, CBS, 1961.

"The Voice of Silence," Wanted: Dead or Alive, CBS, 1961.

"Accomplice," Sam Benedict, NBC, 1963.

"The Boiling Point," Sam Benedict, NBC, 1963.

"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," The Twilight Zone, CBS, 1963.

"No Trumpets, No Drums," Combat!, ABC. 1963.

"Of Rusted Cannons and Fallen Sparrows," Sam Benedict, NBC, 1963.

Gilligan's Island (also known as Gilligan's Travels), CBS, multiple episodes in 1964.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (also known as Mr. Solo and Solo), NBC, multiple episodes in 1964.

The Twilight Zone, CBS, multiple episodes in 1964.

"St. Gilligan and the Dragon," Gilligan's Island (also known as Gilligan's Travels), CBS, 1965.

(As Richard D. Donner) "Washington 4, Indians 3," Get Smart, NBC, 1965.

"In a Plain Paper Wrapper," The Fugitive, ABC, 1966.

"The Night of the Bars of Hell," The Wild Wild West (also known as The Wild West), CBS, 1966.

"The Night of the Murderous Spring," The Wild Wild West (also known as The Wild West), CBS, 1966.

"The Spy-Master," The F.B.I., ABC, 1966.

"Casualty," The Interns, CBS, 1971.

"Ring Out, Ring It," Sarge, NBC, 1971.

"The Old College Try," Banyon, NBC, 1972.

"Who'll Cry for My Baby," Ironside (also known as The Raymond Burr Show), NBC, 1972.

Sons and Daughters, CBS, 1974.

"Dig That Cat … He's Real Gone," Tales from the Crypt (also known as HBO's "Tales from the Crypt'), HBO, 1989.

"The Ventriloquist's Dummy," Tales from the Crypt (also known as HBO's "Tales from the Crypt"), HBO, 1990.

Directed episodes of other series, including The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (also known as The Banana Splits and Friends Show), NBC; Cade's County, CBS; Cannon, CBS; The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor (also known as Robert Taylor's "Detectives," The Detectives, and The Detectives, Starring Robert Taylor), ABC and NBC; The Felony Squad, ABC; another episode of The Fugitive, ABC; Ghost Story (also known as Circle of Fear), NBC; Have Gun, Will Travel, CBS; It's about Time, CBS; Jericho, CBS; Kojak, CBS; Letter to Loretta (also known as The Loretta Young Show and The Loretta Young Theatre), NBC; Lucas Tanner, NBC; The Nurses (also known as The Doctors and Nurses), CBS; Perry Mason, CBS; Petrocelli, NBC; The Rifleman, ABC; The Six Million Dollar Man (also known as Cyborg), ABC; The Sixth Sense, ABC; The Streets of San Francisco, ABC; The Trials of O'Brien, CBS; and four episodes of Twelve O'Clock High, ABC.

Television Director; Pilots:

(As Richard D. Donner; with Gerry Chiniquy) Philbert (Three's a Crowd), ABC, c. 1963, released theatrically by Warner Bros., 1963.

The Mayor, NBC, 1965.

Hernandez, Houston P.D. (also known as Hernandez), NBC, 1973.

Nightside, ABC, 1973.

Stat!, CBS, 1973.

Lucas Tanner, NBC, 1974.

Senior Year, CBS, 1974.

Bronk, CBS, 1975.

A Shadow in the Streets, NBC, 1975.

"Showdown," Two-Fisted Tales, Fox, 1991.

Television Executive Producer; Pilots:

Two-Fisted Tales, Fox, 1991.

The Omen, NBC, 1995.

Matthew Blackheart: Monster Smasher (also known as Blackheart), DirecTV and syndicated, 2001.

Television Producer; Pilots:

A Shadow in the Streets, NBC, 1975.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Himself, The Making of "Superman: The Movie," 1978.

Himself, The Making of "The Goonies," 1985.

Premiere: Inside the Summer Blockbusters, 1989.

Himself, Mel Gibson's Unauthorized Video Diary, HBO, 1991.

Himself, Mel Gibson's Video Diary 2: "Lethal Weapon," HBO, 1991.

(Uncredited) Himself, The Omen Legacy, American Movie Classics, 2001.

Himself, The Curse of "The Omen," 2005.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

"Of Human Bondage," Somerset Maugham Theatre (also known as Somerset Maugham TV Theatre and Teller of Tales), NBC, 1951.

Drunken man, "The Giuoco Piano Affair," The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (also known as Mr. Solo and Solo), NBC, 1964.

Himself, Revista de cine, Television Espanola (TVE, Spain), 1979.

Himself, Muy personal, Television Espanola, 1987.

Narrator, "Howard Hawks," Sex and the Silver Screen, Showtime, 1996.

Himself, "Corey Feldman," The E! True Hollywood Story (also known as THS), E! Entertainment Television, 1998.

Himself, "Margot Kidder," The E! True Hollywood Story (also known as THS), E! Entertainment Television, 1998.

Himself, "Gilligan's Island," The E! True Hollywood Story (also known as THS), E! Entertainment Television, 1999.

Himself, Intimate Portrait: Margot Kidder, Lifetime, 1999.

Himself, Inside TV Land: "Get Smart," TV Land, 2001.

"Margot Kidder," Biography (also known as A & E Biography: Margot Kidder), Arts and Entertainment, 2001.

Himself, "Mel Gibson," Revealed with Jules Asner, E! Entertainment Television, 2002.

Himself, Dinner for Five, Independent Film Channel, 2004.

Himself, "16 Blocks," HBO First Look, HBO, 2006.

Appeared as himself in "Danny Glover," Celebrity Profile (also known as E! Celebrity Profile), E! Entertainment Television; also appeared as himself in "The Films of Richard Donner," The Directors, Encore.