Actor and film director Richard Attenborough has died aged 90. In a statement, his son announced that he died at lunchtime on Sunday 24th August. Lord Attenborough, who was knighted in 1976, enjoyed success as one of Britain's leading actors, acting on 45 films before becoming a successful director.
His career highlights included directing 1982 film ‘Gandhi’, for which he clinched eight Oscars, including best film and best director, and appearing in 1993 blockbuster ‘Jurassic Park’. He also starred in ‘Miracle on 34th Street’, ‘Brighton Rock’, ‘Doctor Doolittle’ and ‘The Great Escape’.
Born in Cambridge in 1923, he championed the British film business through its triumphs and trials for more than 60 years as actor, Oscar-winning director and prolific movie-maker. Besides ‘Gandhi’, he also directed ‘Cry Freedom’, ‘Chaplin’ and ‘Shadowlands’.
Attenborough also contributed to the Irish film industry. His last film as a director and producer was 'Closing the Ring' in 2007, starring Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Pete Postlethwaite, Mischa Barton, Brenda Fricker and Martin McCann. Filmed in Co. Antrim, the film portrays a young man searching for the proper owner of a ring that belonging to a U.S. World War II bomber gunner who crashed onto the Cave Hill outside Belfast in Northern Ireland on June 1, 1944.
Attenborough had been in a nursing home with his wife for a number of years. He is survived by his wife and son Michael, a theatre director, and daughter Charlotte, an actress. Daughter Jane Holland died in a 2004 tsunami while travelling in Thailand.
