Richard Attenborough, the director who brought Oscar-winning Gandhi to the screen, dies at 90
Richard Attenborough, the British firm director who won an Oscar for his Gandhi epic and performed in more than 50 films, has died at the age of 90. He would have been 91 this week .
Attenborough: "Giant of British cinema."
The New York Times describes him today as a "giant of British cinema".
Sir Richard died at about lunchtime yesterday, the BBC News reported on its website, quoting his son, Michael Attenborough. The family will release a full statement today.
Attenborough, knighted in 1976, acted in 45 movies before he turned to directing. Gandhi won eight Academy Awards, including directing and best picture.
Richard, brother of David Attenborough, the naturalist and TV documentary maker, started directing in 1969 with “Oh! What a Lovely War.” Then came “Young Winston” (1972), a biography of Winston Churchill’s early years, and with World War II drama “A Bridge Too Far” (1977).
In 1962 an Indian official in London urged , Attenborough to make a film about Gandhi. Aware that Hollywood director Otto Preminger and U.K. filmmaker David Lean had tried and failed to make a movie on the same topic, Attenborough was hesitant.
But In the next two decades, he made many trips to India, winning the approval of Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
In the late 1970s, Lean said he wanted to make the movie - but he and his would-be scriptwriter backed out and Attenborough was approached again. Shooting began on Nov. 26, 1980, in India and ended 121 days later.
The film -- featuring Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, John Gielgud, John Mills and Martin Sheen -- came in on budget at $22 million. Ben Kingsley won the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of Gandhi.
As an actor, Attenborough starred in in “Private’s Progress” (1956), “I’m All Right, Jack” (1959)with “The Great Escape” (1963), “The Sand Pebbles” (1966), “Doctor Doolittle” (1967) and in two of Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” movies.
He played serial killer John Christie in “10 Rillington Place” (1971).
Attenborough was chairman of the British Film Institute from 1981 to 1992.
He is survived by his wife Sheila Sim and son Michael, a theater director, and daughter Charlotte, an actress. Daughter Jane Holland died in the 2004 Thailand tsunami. while traveling in Thailand. Attenborough had been in a nursing home with his wife Sheila Sim for a number of years, the BBC reported
.