Damon D'Amato from I live in North Hollywood, Calfornia · CC BY 2.0

Wrote the screenplay for The Omen (1976), the supernatural horror film whose commercial success helped make the genre a mainstream box-office staple, and later the action comedy Bird on a Wire (1990). As writer-director he made the coming-of-age drama Lucas (1986), the comedy-drama Punchline (1988), and the World War II drama Shining Through (1992), moving comfortably between horror, comedy and period drama across a long career.