Producer-director Menahem Golan, who thrilled audiences in the 1980s with a slew of action and fantasy adventures from his Cannon Films label, has passed away at age 85.

The Israeli-born Golan was a showman as well as a filmmaker who worked with his cousin Yoram Globus to form Golan-Globus and then to buy-out Cannon Films in 1979. Together they churned out a string of successful films of the B-level variety, like Charles Bronson’s Death Wish sequels, The Last American Virgin, and Enter the Ninja. Their action films would have a particular impact, including Chuck Norris’ The Delta Force and Missing in Action, even while they would come to be accompanied by more serious fare like Runaway Train, which starred Jon Voight and was originated from an Akira Kurosawa screenplay, and That Championship Season, was based on the Broadway play.

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