Richard D. Zanuck | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Zanuck at the 1990 Academy Awards | |
| Born | Richard Darryl Zanuck (1934-12-13)December 13, 1934 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | July 13, 2012(2012-07-13) (aged 77) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Film producer |
| Years active | 1956–2012 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4, includingDean Zanuck |
| Parents |
|
Richard Darryl Zanuck (/ˈzænək/ZAN-ək; December 13, 1934 – July 13, 2012) was an American film producer. His 1989 filmDriving Miss Daisy won theAcademy Award for Best Picture. He was also instrumental in launching the career of directorSteven Spielberg, who described Zanuck as a "director's producer" and "one of the most honorable and loyal men of our profession."[1]
Richard Darryl Zanuck was born in Los Angeles to actressVirginia Fox andDarryl F. Zanuck, then head of production for20th Century Fox. He was the youngest of three children. He had two elder sisters, Darrylin (1931–2015)[2][3] and Susan (1933–1980).[4][5] While studying atStanford University, he began his career in the film industry working for the 20th Century Fox story department. In 1959, Zanuck had his first shot at producing with the filmCompulsion. In the 1960s, Zanuck became the president of 20th Century Fox. One year of his tenure was chronicled byJohn Gregory Dunne inThe Studio.[6] After failures like 1967'sDoctor Dolittle, he was dismissed by his father and joinedWarner Bros. as Executive Vice President.
In 1972, Zanuck joined withDavid Brown to form an independent production company called the Zanuck/Brown Company atUniversal Pictures. Their first big hit wasThe Sting (1973), which won theAcademy Award forBest Picture inApril 1974. The two men produced a pair ofSteven Spielberg's early films,The Sugarland Express (1974) andJaws (1975). They subsequently produced such box office hits asCocoon (1985) andDriving Miss Daisy (1989) before dissolving their partnership in 1988 when he partnered with Jerry Perenchio to start The Zanuck Company.[7] They were jointly awarded theIrving G. Thalberg Memorial Award by theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1990. He worked withTim Burton six times, producing Burton's adaptation ofPlanet of the Apes (2001),Big Fish (2003),Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005),Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007),Alice in Wonderland (2010), andDark Shadows (2012). He and Burton connected immediately, and Zanuck was Burton's producer of choice.[8] In a May 2012 interview, Zanuck toldVariety: "A producer should contribute from the very beginning until the very end, in all aspects. I'm there at the set every day, on every shot. Not that the director, particularly Tim [Burton], needs me, but just in case."[9]
Zanuck married three times. On January 14, 1958, he marriedLili Charlene Gentle (b. March 4, 1940), an actress fromBirmingham, Alabama, and a second cousin of actressTallulah Bankhead. The marriage, which produced two daughters, Virginia Lorraine Zanuck (born 1959) and Janet Beverly Zanuck (born 1960), was dissolved in 1968.
On October 26, 1969, Zanuck and his protégé, actressLinda Harrison, together with his friend, producerSy Bartlett, and Harrison's sister Kay, flew toLas Vegas, where Zanuck married Harrison on a balcony of theSands Hotel.[10][11][12] The marriage became difficult after Harrison failed to garner the role of the wife in Zanuck's production ofJaws.
In mid-1977, as a result of his second wife's entanglement with a 65-year-old "guru", Vincentii Turriziani of the Risen Christ Foundation, and the alleged guru's claims and demands for money from Zanuck, he filed for divorce and was awarded custody of his two sons, Harrison Richard Zanuck (born 1971) andDean Francis Zanuck (born 1972).[13][14][15]
In a 1985 interview, Zanuck said that career problems contributed to his two failed marriages. "Both girls were actresses, and neither one was well established," he said. As head of 20th Century Fox, "It was tough to try to be fair to the project and also try to help them in their careers. If I didn't give them the role, then I had to explain why they weren't right for it. It wasn't the major problem in the marriages, but it was an underlying source of discomfort."[16]
On September 23, 1978, Zanuck married his third wife,Lili Fini (born 1954), a former World Bank employee and Carnation Co. office manager, who helped him raise his sons from his second marriage, and would co-produce some of his most memorable films, includingCocoon (1985),Driving Miss Daisy (1989), andReign of Fire (2002). When the Zanucks won the Best Picture Oscar in 1989 forDriving Miss Daisy, Lili Fini Zanuck was only the second woman in history to have earned an Oscar for Best Picture. In 1998, she directed an episode of theHBOminiseriesFrom the Earth to the Moon, titled "We Have Cleared the Tower",[citation needed] and in 2000, Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck co-produced the72nd Academy Awards ceremony.[17]
Zanuck died from a heart attack at his home on July 13, 2012, at the age of 77.[9][18] His mansion, located in theBeverly Park section of Los Angeles, was sold for $20.1 million later that year.[19] On February 25, 2014,20th Century Fox opened the Richard D. Zanuck Production Building at its Los Angeles studios. "Richard was a true giant of our industry for over five decades", Fox chairman and CEOJim Gianopulos said at the dedication ceremony. "He was family, and an integral part of our legacy. We couldn't find a building worthy of him, so we built one."[20][21] The ceremony was attended by Zanuck's widow, Lili Fini Zanuck, his sons, and four of his nine grandchildren.[22]
He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Cleopatra | Studio executive | Uncredited |
| 1965 | The Sound of Music | ||
| 1966 | The Sand Pebbles | ||
| 1967 | Doctor Dolittle | ||
| 1969 | Patton | ||
| 1970 | M*A*S*H | ||
| 1970 | Tora! Tora! Tora! | ||
| 1971 | The French Connection |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Tora! Tora! Tora! | Executive in charge of production | Uncredited |
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | The Zero Theorem | In the memory of the great |
| 2014 | The Grand Budapest Hotel | Special thanks: Our old friends |
| 2014 | Escobar: Paradise Lost | In loving memory of |
| Year | Production | Credit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | CBS Summer Playhouse | Executive producer | |
| 1992 | Driving Miss Daisy | Executive producer | Television film |
| 2000 | 72nd Academy Awards | Television special | |
| 2004 | Dead Lawyers | Executive producer | Television film |
| 2015 | Bessie | Executive producer | Television film Posthumous credit |
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