- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRichard Darryl Zanuck
- Nickname
- Dick
- The son of Darryl F Zanuck s a college student he spent his holidays working in different departments at Fox Studios so learnt the business from the bottom up. One Summer he attended every production business meeting with his father and later joined his dad as story and production assistant on such films as Island in the Sun and The Sun Also Rises. With his father working in Africa on Roots of Heaven he was given responsibility for a film he'd been working on but hadn't expected to produce - Compulsion, which went on to win the Cannes Festival Award for it's male stars and was a financial as well as an artistic success establishing Richard as a producer in his own right. In 1969 at 34 with his appointment as senior executive vice president at 20th Century Fox he was the youngest corporate president in Hollywood history and during his 8 years at Fox he rebuilt the oganisation into one of the world's most prestigious and successful studios and at the same time brought it up to date as a leading centre for television and film production.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5
- SpousesLili Fini Zanuck(September 23, 1978 - July 13, 2012) (his death)Linda Harrison(October 26, 1969 - January 23, 1978) (divorced, 2 children)Lili Gentle(January 14, 1958 - November 3, 1968) (divorced, 2 children)
- Children
- Parents
- RelativesDarrilyn Zanuck DePineda(Sibling)
- Accompanied his father to the studio from an early age and assisted in reviewing rough cuts for studio executives.
- Son of Hollywood producer Darryl F. Zanuck and actress Virginia Fox.
- The commercial and critical failure of the expensively-produced musical extravaganzas, Doctor Dolittle (1967) and Star! (1968), led to him being ousted as head of production at 20th Century Fox in 1970.
- Had two daughters with Lili Gentle, Janet and Virginia Zanuck, and two sons with Linda Harrison, Harrison Zanuck and Dean Zanuck.
- Had his greatest successes as head of his own production company, in association with David Brown, turning out mega hits like The Sting (1973) and Jaws (1975).
- [about his father, studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck, being fired from his job] It was hard to see my father go through that. I recovered from being fired, I don't think he ever did.
- This is a business where you make decisions using your gut.
- The Sound of Music (1965) did more damage to the industry than any other picture. Everyone tried to copy it. We were the biggest offenders.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content