Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough,
CBE (born
August 29,
1923) is a prolific
English film actor,
director and
producer.
Born in
Cambridge, he was educated at
Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys in
Leicester and at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). His film career as an actor began in 1942 as a deserting sailor in
In Which We Serve, a role which would help to type-cast him for many years as
spivs or cowards in films like
London Belongs to Me (1948),
Morning Departure (1950), and his breakthrough role as a
psychopathic young gangster in the film adaptation of
Graham Greene's novel
Brighton Rock (1947). He worked prolifically in British films for the next thirty years, and in the 1950s appeared in several successful comedies for
John and Roy Boulting, including
Private's Progress (1956) and
I'm All Right Jack (1959).
In the late 1950s he formed a production company, Beaver Films, with
Bryan Forbes and began to build a profile as a producer on projects including
The League of Gentlemen (1959),
The Angry Silence (1960) and
Whistle Down the Wind (1961), also appearing in the first two of these as an actor. He continued to work in films in character roles throughout the decade, winning the
BAFTA Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the
regimental Sergeant Major in
Guns at Batasi in 1964. One of Attenborough's most notable film roles was as Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett ("Big X"), the head of the escape committee, in
The Great Escape (1963). As of
July 2006, he is one of only three surviving stars of the film, the others being
James Garner and
David McCallum.
In 1969, he made his first film as director,
Oh! What a Lovely War, and his appearances as an actor became more sporadic, the most notable being his portrayal of
serial killer John Christie in 1971's
10 Rillington Place. He also directed two more epic period films,
Young Winston (1972), based on the early life of
Winston Churchill, and
A Bridge Too Far (1977). He won the 1982
Academy Award for Directing for his historical epic,
Gandhi, a project he had been attempting to get made for several years. As the film's producer, he also won the
Academy Award for Best Picture. His most recent films as director and producer include
Grey Owl, and the acclaimed drama
Shadowlands, based on the relationship between
C.S. Lewis and
Joy Gresham.
Lord Attenborough has been in
Belfast,
Northern Ireland filming his latest film,
Closing the Ring, set in Belfast in the Second World War.
Also Lord Attenborough is President of RADA, Chairman of
Capital Radio, President of
BAFTA, President of the
Gandhi Foundation,
Chancellor of the
University of Sussex and President of the British
National Film and Television School.
He was elected to the post of Chancellor of the University of Sussex on
20 March 1998, replacing the
Duke of Richmond and Gordon. He is also Life Vice-President of
Chelsea Football Club. Furthermore, he is a Patron for the United World Colleges movement.
He is actively involved in the project to develop a film industry in
Wales, commonly referred to as "
Valleywood".
Attenborough is rumored to be reprising his role as
John Hammond in the film
Jurassic Park IV which is set for release in summer
2008In 1967, he was made a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He was
knighted in 1976 and in 1993 he was made a
life peer as Baron Attenborough, of
Richmond upon Thames in the
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
On
13 July 2006, Attenborough, along with his brother David, were awarded the titles of
Distinguished Honorary Fellows of the
University of Leicester "in recognition of a record of continuing distinguished service to the University." [
1] & [
2].
He has been married to British actress
Sheila Sim since 1945. They had three children. In December 2004, his elder daughter, Jane Holland, as well as her daughter, Lucy, and her mother-in-law, also named Jane, were killed in the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. [
3] A memorial service was held on
8 March 2005, and Attenborough read a lesson at the national memorial service on
11 May 2005. His grandson Samuel Holland and granddaughter Alice Holland also read in the sevice.
Attenborough's father,
Frederick Attenborough, was principal of
University College, Leicester, now the city's university. This has resulted in a long association with the university, with Lord Attenborough a patron. The university's
Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts, which opened in 1997, is named in his honour.
He has two younger brothers, the famous naturalist
Sir David Attenborough; and John Attenborough, who has made a career in the
motor trade.
As an actor
*
In Which We Serve (
1942)
*
Brighton Rock (
1947)
*
London Belongs to Me (
1948)
*
Morning Departure (
1950)
*
The Magic Box (
1951)
*
Hell Is Sold Out (
1951)
*
Father's Doing Fine (
1952)
*
Eight O'Clock Walk (
1952)
*
Gift Horse (
1952)
*
The Ship That Died of Shame (
1955)
*
Private's Progress (
1956)
*
The Baby and the Battleship (
1956)
*
The Scamp (
1957)
*
Brothers in Law (
1957)
*
Dunkirk (
1958)
*
The Man Upstairs (
1958)
*
Sea of Sand (
1958)
*
The League of Gentlemen (
1959)
*
I'm All Right Jack (
1959)
*
Danger Within (
1959)
*
Jet Storm (
1959)
*
SOS Pacific (
1959)
*
The Angry Silence (
1960)
*
The Great Escape (
1963)
*
Seance on a Wet Afternoon (
1964)
*
Guns at Batasi (
1964)
*
The Flight of the Phoenix (
1965)
*
The Sand Pebbles (1966)
* Doctor Dolittle (
1967)
*
Loot (
1970)
*
The Last Grenade (
1970)
*
A Severed Head (
1970)
*
10 Rillington Place (
1971)
*
Cup Glory (
1972) (as narrator)
*
And then There were None (
1974)
*
Rosebud (
1975)
*
Brannigan (
1975)
*
Conduct Unbecoming (
1975)
*
Shatranj Ke Khilari (
1977)
*
A Bridge Too Far (
1977)
*
The Human Factor (
1979)
*
Jurassic Park (
1993)
*
Miracle on 34th Street (
1994)
*
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (
1997)
*
Elizabeth (
1998)
*
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (
1999)
*
The Railway Children (
2000)
*
Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story (
2001)
*
Puckoon (
2002)
*
Snow Prince (
2006)
*
Jurassic Park IV (
2008) (rumored)
As director
*
Oh! What A Lovely War (
1969)
*
Young Winston (
1972)
*
A Bridge Too Far (
1977)
*
Magic (
1978)
*
Gandhi (
1982)
*
A Chorus Line (
1985)
*
Cry Freedom (
1987)
*
Chaplin (
1992)
*
Shadowlands (
1993)
*
In Love and War (
1996)
*
Grey Owl (
1999)
Closing the ring (
2007) '' (post-production)
*
University of Sussex media release about Lord Attenborough's election as Chancellor, dated Friday, March 20, 1998*
Richard Attenborough Stills & Posters Gallery from the British Film Institute*
Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts
