Menahem Golan, best known as a producer on ‘80s films such as Masters of the Universe and The Delta Force, has died at age 85.
Golan and his cousin, Yoram Globus, co-founded Cannon Films, which they ran for ten years. At their peak, they produced 30 films a year, starring action stars like Charles Bronson, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris.
Globus told The Hollywood Reporter about Golan’s death, "I'm in complete and utter shock; I cannot come to grips with the news.”
Paramedics pronounced Golan dead on Friday night after he collapsed while taking a walk with family in Jaffa, Israel.
Globus continued in his statement that his cousin and former business partner “lived, breathed and ate cinema, and he is undoubtedly a founding member of the Israeli cinematic landscape, locally and all of its appeal internationally.”
Israel’s Israel Hayom notes prominent officials and many actors who have worked with the noted producer are mourning his death.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Golan one of the “founding pillars of Israeli cinema” and said he “will be remembered as one of the pioneers of his field in Israel, as somebody who raised the curtain on Israeli cinema to the world.”
He’s survived by his wife and three children; all girls.
image via INFphoto.com