Director-Actor Sir Richard Attenborough Dies at Age 90

BRIGHTON ROCK, THE SAND PEBBLES, THE GREAT ESCAPE. A giant of the cinema world has passed away.

Lord Richard Attenborough, the Oscar winning director/producer of GANDHI (1982), died on Sunday according to BBC News. “His son told the BBC that Lord Attenborough died at lunchtime.”

According to the BAFTA biography:

His directorial debut was a screen version of the hit musical OH! WHAT A LOVELY WAR (1969) and later directed two epic period films: YOUNG WINSTON (1972) and A BRIDGE TOO FAR (1977). He won two BAFTAs and two Oscars in 1982 for producing and directing the historical epic, GANDHI, his life’s ambition. He received a BAFTA Fellowship in 1983.

His other films as director and producer include CHAPLIN (1992) and SHADOWLANDS (1993). Both films starred Anthony Hopkins, who appeared in another three films for Attenborough. He also directed the screen version of musical A CHORUS LINE (1985) and the apartheid drama CRY FREEDOM (1987). He was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director for both films. He also directed GREY OWL (1999) and CLOSING THE RING (2007).

Lord Attenborough played circus owner, Albert Blossom, in the 1967 version of DOCTOR DOLITTLE.

He took no acting roles after 1978, until his appearance in Steven Spielberg’s JURASSIC PARK (1993). The following year he starred in the remake of MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1994) as well as ELIZABETH (1998) alongside Cate Blanchett.

Attenborough was elected the British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ (BAFTA) fourth President.

Read his filmography HERE.

©AP