Legendary Oscar-winning film producer Richard D. Zanuck has passed away after suffering a heart attack, aged 77. The son of former 20th Century Fox head and legendary producer Daryl F. Zanuck and actress Virginia Fox, Zanuck produced his first film Compulsion in 1959, before a stint as president of 20th Century Fox in the 1960s, during which time the studio releases classics such as The Sound of Music (1965) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). After departing Fox, Zanuck went on to form his own production company alongside fellow producer David Brown and went on to become instrumental in ushering in the summer blockbuster through his early championing of up-and-coming filmmaker Steven Spielberg.
Producing Spielberg’s feature film debut The Sugarland Express (1974), their next collaboration – the 1975 adaptation of Peter Benchley’s Jaws – went on to shatter box office records, as well as giving Zanuck the first of three Best Picture nominations. He would continue his partnership with Brown on films such as Jaws 2 (1978), Best Picture nominee The Verdict (1982), Cocoon (1985) and Driving Miss Daisy (1989), which took home the Oscar for Best Picture, and despite having dissolved their partnership the duo were also awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1990.
In later years, Zanuck’s producing credits included the likes of Chain Reaction (1996), Deep Impact (1998), True Crime (1999), Road to Perdition (2002), Yes Man (2008) and Clash of the Titans (2010). He also formed a regular working relationship with Tim Burton; beginning with 2001’s Planet of the Apes, Zanuck would go on to produce a further five of Burton’s films: Big Fish (2003), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Dark Shadows (2012).
Originally published July 13, 2012. Updated April 10, 2018.
