Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg; April 24, 1930 – July 5, 2021) was an American director and producer of film and television and occasional comic-book writer. After directing the horror film The Omen (1976), Donner directed the superhero film, Superman (1978), starring Christopher Reeve. Donner later went on to direct movies such as The Goonies (1985) and Scrooged (1988), while reinvigorating the buddy film genre with the Lethal Weapon film series. He and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler Donner, owned the production company best known for producing the Free Willy and X-Men franchises. In 2000, he received the President's Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. Film historian Michael Barson writes that Donner was "one of Hollywood's most reliable makers of action blockbusters". One of Donner's assistants in the late 1990s was comic book writer Geoff Johns. In October 2006, Donner, Johns and artist Adam Kubert became the new creative team on Action Comics, the publisher's most time honored publication and one of DC Comics' two main Superman titles. Together, Johns and Donner collaborated on the stories Last Son and Escape from Bizarro World, both of which have been released in collected book form. Donner and Johns also co-wrote a story for Action Comics #1000, released in April 2018. On November 10, 2010, Donner's authorized biography You're the Director... You Figure It Out: The Life and Films of Richard Donner by James Christie was published by BearManor Media. The book features a foreword by actor Mel Gibson. - wikipedia