Richard Donner, the prolific director of hit films like Superman, The Goonies and Lethal Weapon, has died at the grand age of 91.

The Bronx-born filmmaker passed away this morning though the cause of death is not yet known.

His directing career began in television where he helmed episodes of several notable series of the 1960s including Wanted: Dead or Alive (1960-61), The Twilight Zone (1963-64), Mr. Novak (1963-64), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964), Gilligan’s Island (1964-65), Perry Mason (1964-65), Get Smart (1965) and The Fugitive (1966).

He continued to direct other small-screen productions in the 1970s including The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (1970), Ironside (1972), The Streets of San Francisco (1974) and Kojak (1973-74).

The second half of that decade then saw him make the leap to films starting with the cult horror The Omen (1976). Known for its evil young antagonist Damien and its iconic “Ave Santini” theme, it ended up being an unlikely box-office hit.

Shortly after, Donner landed the biggest directing gig of his career when he worked on the big-screen adaptation of Superman (1978). The comic-book blockbuster grossed over $300 million worldwide and helped leading man Christopher Reeve become a cinematic legend.

A dispute with the producers famously resulted in Donner taking his name off directing Superman II (1980), when Richard Lester was brought in after Donner had shot the majority of it; a director’s cut of the film with many of the excised Donner-directed scenes was released in 2006.

After helming the romantic dramedy Inside Moves (1980), he returned to box-office projects in 1985 starting with the fantasy adventure Ladyhawke.

Shortly after, Donner directed a more popular adventure flick in the form of the youth-based blockbuster The Goonies. Based on a story by Steven Spielberg, the film centred on a group of children (including a young Sean Astin and Josh Brolin) as they sought to find a legendary pirate’s long-lost treasure.

Coincidentally, Donner was also involved in making the music video to the film’s hit single ‘The Goonies R Good Enough’ as memorably sung by Cyndi Lauper.

Two years later, he helmed another franchise-launched blockbuster in the form of the action-thriller Lethal Weapon (1987). The film made Mel Gibson a global superstar and (unsurprisingly) led to three sequels that were all directed by Donner between 1989 and 1998.

After working on the festive comedy Scrooged (1988) with Bill Murray, he then had mixed success in the 1990s with films like Radio Flyer (1992), Maverick (1994), Assassins (1995) and the Mel Gibson/Julia Roberts-starring thriller Conspiracy Theory (1997).

His final two efforts produced more disappointing results in the form of the fantasy adventure Timeline (2003) and the Bruce Willis-starring crime thriller 16 Blocks (2006). Those two films marked the end of Donner’s versatile work behind the camera with his legacy mainly defined by the likes of Superman and The Goonies.

Donner is survived by his wife Lauren Shuler Donner.