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Richard Attenborough

Richard Attenborough

Richard Attenborough is an award-winning producer/director who began his career as an actor and has starred in more than 50 films. When Steven Spielberg persuaded him play John Hammond in Jurassic Park, it was the first time Lord Attenborough worked in front of the camera since 1979, when he co-starred in The Human Factor.

Born in Cambridge in 1923 as the son of a university college principal, Attenborough left his Leicester home at the age of 17 to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Lord Attenborough won two Best Actor Awards from the British Film Academy for Seance on a Wet Afternoon and Guns at Batasi. A succession of major films followed in the 1960s, including Flight of the Phoenix, The Sand Pebbles, Dr. Doolittle, The Great Escape, The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom and The Chess Player.

Lord Attenborough made his directorial debut in 1969 with Oh! What a Lovely War, followed by Young Winston, A Bridge Too Far and Magic.

In 1982, he achieved a lifelong dream of producing and directing the epic film Gandhi, which won five British Academy Awards and eight American Oscars with Attenborough receiving the prestigious Best Film and Best Director awards on both sides of the Atlantic.

Since then, he has directed A Chorus Line, Cry Freedom, Chaplin and most recently, In Love and War.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2002.

Richard Attenborough Facts

Birth NameSir Richard Samuel Attenborough
OccupationActor
BirthdayAugust 29, 1923 (100)
SignVirgo
BirthplaceCambridge, England, United Kingdom
Height5' 7" (1m70)  How tall is Richard Attenborough compared to you?
Awards1983 Academy Awards: Best Director (for Gandhi)
1983 Golden Globe Awards: Best Director - Motion Picture (for Gandhi)
1968 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture (for Doctor Dolittle)
1967 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture (for The Sand Pebbles)

Selected Filmography

Jurassic Park
Elizabeth
The Children Who Cheated the Nazis
In Which We Serve
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
The Great Escape
Jurassic Park Collection: Jurassic Park
David Copperfield
Hamlet
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
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