Richard Zanuck

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Born Dec. 13, 1934 in Los Angeles, CA

Died July 13, 2012 of heart attack in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Richard Zanuck emerged from the considerable shadow of his father, legendary Fox mogul Darryl Zanuck, to forge his own brilliant career as a producer.

His films include "Jaws," "French Connection" and "Cocoon." Zanuck reached one high with an Oscar for best picture for the 1989 film "Driving Miss Daisy." A year later he received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award given to a producer whose career work standards and output are exceptionally high.

Before forming his own production company, Zanuck was production chief and president of 20th Century Fox from 1962 to 1970. When he was made head of production at the studio in 1962 at age 28, Zanuck was given a lordly title to a dominion in ruins. In the course of losing millions on the catastrophic "Cleopatra," Fox was going flat broke.

He was fired by his father not long after "MASH" became a hit for the studio. Zanuck later said the "straw that broke the camel's back" was his decision to lay off his father's girlfriend when the studio faced a round of cutbacks.

Zanuck died July 13, 2012, of a heart attack at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 77.

— Patrick Goldstein in the Los Angeles Times May 21, 2006

Year	Category	Work
1975	Best Picture	Jaws	Nomination*
1982	Best Picture	The Verdict	Nomination*
1989	Best Picture	Driving Miss Daisy	Win*
1990	Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award		Win*

Two thoughts about Richard Zanuck

“

I met Richard Zanuck in 2005 at a posh restaurant in Hollywood. I was sitting with my husband and his cousin (who had recently directed, written and produced his own budget sci fi movie.)
My husband's 64 year old aunt was sitting next to me when she saw this very handsome white haired gentleman who was trying to slide himself behind the chair I was sitting in.

"Auntie" had been flirting like crazy with every man she encountered that day (including yelling "I love you Jay!" to Jay Leno as we were leaving the taping of "The Tonight Show". Leno had actually waved and said, "Thank you") So here we were in this restaurant known for serving movies stars and celebs and Auntie just could not resist this somewhat gorgeous man with skin like satin. She blurted out loudly, "HEY! HEY!" and I just wanted to hide my head under the table. We had no idea who he was but he responded in kind, "Hey!" Then he leaned over, put his hands on the back of my chair, looked me in the eye and smiled. "This must be the happy table!" I smiled back and said, "Evidently." He then asked if I was enjoying the my meal and I replied "Absolutely! The food is wonderful!" Then he said simply, "Yes it is. You have a nice evening." And I said "You do the same." As he left, our waiter hurried over to me and said "Oh my God, What did he say to you?"

I repeated our brief conversation and the waiter/part time actor said,"Do you know who that is?" I said, "No but he is one hot looking senior citizen." The waiter then told me that he was Richard Zanuck, a famous movie producer. I responded with "Oh yeah...? What did he produce , The Blob That Ate Manhattan?" "No, Jaws...MASH...Cocoon...Driving Miss Daisy." I couldn't believe it. What a brilliant man. And a nice guy.
And Smokin' Hot.

” — Claudia Johnson, August 5, 2012 at 7:19 p.m.

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