Cosmatos had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer.

"George was just a wonderful, bigger-than-life character," Donner said. "You never forgot his entrance and hoped there would never be an exit."

Known for an ability to fix troubled projects and create blockbuster films, he delivered what many consider his finest achievement in 1993 -- Tombstone, the film about legendary American lawman Wyatt Earp, starring Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell.

Source: AP