Film producer Richard Zanuck, who won the best picture Oscar for "Driving Miss Daisy" and was involved in such blockbuster films as "Jaws" and "The Sting" after his father, Hollywood mogul Darryl F. Zanuck, fired him from 20th Century Fox, has died. He was 77.
Zanuck's publicist said he died Friday of a heart attack at his Beverly Hills home. Zanuck's run of successes as an independent producer rivalled the achievements of his legendary father who reigned over 20th Century Fox from the 1930s until age and changing audience tastes brought him down.
The production company the younger Zanuck founded with David Brown produced "The Sting" in 1973, as well as Steven Spielberg's first feature film, "The Sugarland Express," in 1974 and Spielberg's first blockbuster, "Jaws," in 1975. "The Sting" also won the best movie Oscar, although Zanuck and Brown were not listed as its producers. "Jaws" was nominated for best picture, as was the Zanuck-produced "The Verdict."
"In 1974, Dick Zanuck and I sat in a boat off Martha's Vineyard and watched the mechanical shark sink to the bottom of the sea," Spielberg recalled in a statement Friday. "Dick turned to me and smiled. `Gee, I sure hope that's not a sign.' That moment forged a bond between us that lasted nearly 40 years. He taught me everything I know about producing. He was one of the most honourable and loyal men of our profession and he fought tooth and nail for his directors."
Richard Zanuck was reserved, soft-spoken and friendly with directors, writers and actors, and he liked to operate from behind his desk.
Richard Darryl Zanuck was born in 1934, the third child and only son of the mercurial mogul and his wife, former actress Virginia Fox Zanuck. His mother had appeared in several Buster Keaton shorts in the years before her marriage to the elder Zanuck in 1924.
Richard Zanuck's first wife was actress Lili Gentle and the couple had two daughters, Virginia and Janet.