TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- Menachem Golan, a veteran Israeli filmmaker who produced some of the biggest action movies of the 1980s, has died in Tel Aviv. He was 85.

Israeli film producers Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus sit shoulder to shoulder in 1983.
Israeli film producers Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus sit shoulder to shoulder in 1983.(Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)
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Throughout his long career, Golan produced more than 200 movies and directed a fourth of them. Among his hits were "The Delta Force," starring Chuck Norris, and the "Death Wish" sequels starring Charles Bronson. He also produced films starring Sean Connery, Sylvester Stallone and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

The Israeli-born Golan was a pilot and bombardier in Israel's War of Independence in 1948 and got an Oscar nomination for his film "Entebbe: Operation Thunderbolt."

Along with his cousin and partner Yoram Globus, he established The Cannon Group production company, running it for a decade.

Golan, who died Friday, is survived by his wife and three children.

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