Parker, Alan (1944-2020), was a British motion-picture director, producer, and screenwriter. Parker directed a broad variety of films, ranging from musicals and thrillers to intense dramas and comedies. He won acclaim for directing Midnight Express (1978), the tense story of a young American man held in a Turkish prison, and Mississippi Burning (1988), a story that explores racial conflict in the southern United States during the 1960’s.
Parker’s first feature film was Bugsy Malone (1976), a comedy gangster musical in which children play all the adult parts. Fame (1980) is the story of students at a high school for young performers in New York City. Parker also directed Angel Heart (1987), a supernatural thriller set in New Orleans. The Commitments (1991) is a film about a group of young working-class people in Dublin who form a rock band. In 1996, Parker directed the film version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical Evita. Parker’s other films include Shoot the Moon (1982); Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982); Birdy (1984); Come See the Paradise (1990); The Road to Wellville (1994); and Angela’s Ashes (1999).
Alan William Parker was born on Feb. 14, 1944, in London. He began his career in advertising after graduating from high school. He made his debut in the motion-picture industry in 1966 as the screenwriter for the feature film Melody (released in 1971). He directed advertising commercials, short films, and dramas for television before making Bugsy Malone. Parker also wrote the children’s books Puddles in the Rain (1977) and Hares in the Gate (1983), along with the memoir A Filmmaker’s Diary (1984). Parker died on July 31, 2020.
