Attenborough, Richard (1923-2014), was a British actor and motion-picture director and producer. For more than 50 years, he played an important part in the British film industry. Attenborough won the Academy Award as best director for Gandhi (1982).
Attenborough made his stage acting debut in 1941. His first film was In Which We Serve (1942). He gained recognition in 1943 as the teen-aged gang leader Pinkie in a stage adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel Brighton Rock and in a film version in 1947. Attenborough initially played weak or cowardly characters but gradually expanded his range while making films in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Some of Attenborough’s major films as an actor include Private’s Progress (1955), The Man Upstairs (1958), I’m All Right, Jack (1958), The Great Escape (1963), Guns at Batasi (1964), The Human Factor (1979), and Jurassic Park (1993).
In 1959, Attenborough formed a producing partnership with British filmmaker Bryan Forbes called Beaver Films. The team produced a number of highly praised movies before the partnership ended in 1964. The films included The League of Gentlemen (1959), The Angry Silence (1960), and Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1964). Attenborough also acted in the films.
Attenborough made his debut as a director with Oh, What a Lovely War! (1969). His other notable films include A Bridge Too Far (1977), A Chorus Line (1985), Cry Freedom (1987), Chaplin (1992), and The Lost World (1997).
Richard Samuel Attenborough was born on Aug. 29, 1923, in Cambridge. Attenborough was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1976 and became a life peer in 1993, taking the title Baron Attenborough of Richmond upon Thames. His younger brother is the naturalist and television personality David Attenborough . Richard Attenborough died on Aug. 24, 2014.
