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Richard Zanuck
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Los Angeles, July 14 (AP): 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 yesterday 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.
In 1988, Zanuck and Brown dissolved their partnership amicably, and Zanuck formed a new venture with his third wife, Lili Fini Zanuck. They won the Oscar with their first movie together, Driving Miss Daisy. “Richard was a good and longtime friend,” said Morgan Freeman, who co-starred with Jessica Tandy in the 1989 film.
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