The Great Escape (1963) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II. Director: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC a list of 31 titles created 27 Jun 2012 a list of 22 titles created 12 Nov 2012 a list of 49 titles created 09 Jan 2013 a list of 28 titles created 10 Aug 2014 a list of 34 titles created 08 Dec 2014 Title: The Great Escape (1963) 8.2/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 7 nominations.

See more awards » Videos After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it. Director: David Lean Two Western bank/train robbers flee to Bolivia when the law gets too close. Director: George Roy Hill A man refuses to conform to life in a rural prison. Director: Stuart Rosenberg The story of T.E. Lawrence , the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks. Director: David Lean Two bounty hunters with the same intentions team up to track down a Western outlaw. Director: Sergio Leone In Chicago in September 1936, a young con man seeking revenge for his murdered partner teams up with a master of the big con to win a fortune from a criminal banker. Director: George Roy Hill Fred Dobbs and Bob Curtin, two Americans searching for work in Mexico, convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains. Director: John Huston An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S.

Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania. Director: Michael Cimino Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner and a young man. Director: Clint Eastwood A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man. Director: Oliver Stone When a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge. Director: William Wyler A naive man is appointed to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. His plans promptly collide with political corruption, but he doesn't back down. Director: Frank Capra Edit Storyline Based on a true story, a group of allied escape artist-type prisoners-of-war (POWs) are all put in an 'escape proof' camp. Their leader decides to try to take out several hundred all at once. The first half of the film is played for comedy as the prisoners mostly outwit their jailers to dig the escape tunnel. The second half is high adventure as they use boats and trains and planes to get out of occupied Europe.

Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net> A Glorious Saga Of The R.A.F. See more » Genres: 4 July 1963 (USA) See more » Also Known As: El gran escape See more » Filming Locations: 4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)| Mono Color: Did You Know? Trivia Steve McQueen 's character Hilts was based on amalgamation of several characters, including Major Dave Jones, a flight commander during Doolittle's Raid who made it to Europe and was shot down and captured and Colonel Jerry Sage, who was an OSS agent in the North African desert when he was captured. Col. Sage was able to don a flight jacket and pass as a flier otherwise he would have been executed as a spy. Another inspiration was probably Sqn Ldr Eric Foster who escaped no less than seven times from German prisoner-of-war camps. See more » Goofs The film shows a large number of the escapees being shot in one common space at one time. In reality, the 50 were shot in many different places, sometimes alone and sometimes in small groups. See more » Quotes Hilts : Hold on to yourself, Bartlett.

You're twenty feet short. Bartlett : What do you mean, twenty feet short? Hilts : You're twenty feet short of the woods. The hole is right here in open. The guard is between us and the lights. (Rugby,UK.) – See all my reviews During World War Two the Germans build a new prison camp, Stalag Luft III, for the express purpose of housing many of their most troublesome captured Allied airmen. However, all this serves to do is to pool the resources of some of the most ingenious escape artists in captivity and fill them with a resolve to engineer a mass breakout from the camp. Based largely on real events, this film has assumed classic status over the years and its easy to understand why. Quite simply, it excells in many departments. Director John Sturges was at the height of his creative powers and he keeps a firm grip on the proceedings. Although the film runs close to three hours it never feels sluggish, while at the same time winding up the tension gradually and developing the characters. The production design is first rate, to the point where Donald Pleasance (who had been a P.O.W.) felt quite intimidated by the vast set on his arrival.

Daniel Fapp's beautiful photography shows this and the picturesque German locations off to full effect. Put these virtues together with a good script, inspired casting and a classic score by Elmer Bernstein, and you have an object lesson in how to create an intelligent and exciting big budget adventure film. On the subject of the cast; Much is made of Steve McQueen's role. While I am a huge McQueen fan, I feel that some of the other performances are equal to, if not better than his. Richard Attenborough, James Garner, Donald Pleasance, Charles Bronson and Gordon Jackson are all excellent. Good too are James Coburn, James Donald, David McCallum and Hannes Messemer as the sympathetic Commandant. This is one of those films that I can happily watch time and time again. In September of this year a new print was screened at the NFT in London as part of an 'Attenborough at 80' season. It was a pleasure to see this on the big screen at last. For the most part the print was in very good condition. The DVD was one of the first that I ever bought some three and a half years ago, and I watched its inevitable Christmas screening on BBC2 last night.

I just never tire of it. In these days of brainless, poorly executed action fodder, its a joy to behold something that hits its targets so precisely. 96 of 124 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Richard Attenborough - Biography - IMDb Richard Attenborough Biography Showing all 119 items Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trade Mark (6) | Trivia (79) | Personal Quotes (27) Overview (5) 5' 7" (1.7 m) Mini Bio (1) Lord Richard Attenborough was born in Cambridge, England, the son of Mary (née Clegg), a founding member of the Marriage Guidance Council, and Frederick Levi Attenborough, a scholar and academic administrator who was a don at Emmanuel College and wrote a standard text on Anglo-Saxon law. Attenborough was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys in Leicester and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

His film career began with a role as a deserting sailor in In Which We Serve (1942), a part that contributed to his being typecast for many years as a coward in films like Dulcimer Street (1948), Operation Disaster (1950) and his breakthrough role as a psychopathic young gangster in the film adaptation of Graham Greene 's novel, Brighton Rock (1947). During World War II, Attenborough served in the Royal Air Force. He worked prolifically in British films for the next 30 years, and in the 1950s appeared in several successful comedies for John Boulting and Roy Boulting , including Private's Progress (1956) and I'm All Right Jack (1959). Early in his stage career, Attenborough starred in the London West End production of Agatha Christie 's "The Mousetrap", which went on to become one of the world's longest-running stage productions. Both he and his wife were among the original cast members of the production, which opened in 1952 and (as of 2007) is still running.

In the 1960s, he expanded his range of character roles in films such as Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) and Guns at Batasi (1964), for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the regimental Sergeant Major. He appeared in the ensemble cast of The Great Escape (1963), as Squadron Leader "Roger Bartlett" ("Big X"), the head of the escape committee. In 1967 and 1968, he won back-to-back Golden Globe Awards in the category of Best Supporting Actor, the first time for The Sand Pebbles (1966), starring Steve McQueen , and the second time for Doctor Dolittle (1967), starring Rex Harrison . He would win another Golden Globe for Best Director, for Gandhi (1982), in 1983. Six years prior to "Gandhi", he played the ruthless "Gen. Outram" in Indian director Satyajit Ray 's period piece, The Chess Players (1977). He has never been nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category.

He took no acting roles following his appearance in Otto Preminger 's The Human Factor (1979), until his appearance as the eccentric developer "John Hammond" in Steven Spielberg 's Jurassic Park (1993). The following year, he starred as "Kris Kringle" in Miracle on 34th Street (1994), a remake of the 1947 classic. Since then, he has made occasional appearances in supporting roles, including the historical drama, Elizabeth (1998), as "Sir William Cecil". In the late 1950s, Attenborough formed a production company, "Beaver Films", with Bryan Forbes and began to build a profile as a producer on projects, including The League of Gentlemen (1960), The Angry Silence (1960) and Whistle Down the Wind (1961), also appearing in the first two of these as an actor. His feature film directorial debut was the all-star screen version of the hit musical, Oh!

What a Lovely War (1969), and his acting appearances became more sporadic - the most notable being his portrayal of serial killer "John Christie" in 10 Rillington Place (1971). He later directed two epic period films: Young Winston (1972), based on the early life of Winston Churchill , and A Bridge Too Far (1977), an all-star account of Operation Market Garden in World War II. He won the 1982 Academy Award for Directing for his historical epic, Gandhi (1982), a project he had been attempting to get made for many years. As the film's producer, he also won the Academy Award for Best Picture. His most recent films, as director and producer, include Chaplin (1992), starring Robert Downey Jr. as Charles Chaplin , and Shadowlands (1993), based on the relationship between C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham. Both films starred Anthony Hopkins , who also appeared in three other films for Attenborough: "Young Winston", "A Bridge Too Far" and the thriller, Magic (1978).

Attenborough also directed the screen version of the hit Broadway musical, "A Chorus Line" ( A Chorus Line (1985)), and the apartheid drama, Cry Freedom (1987), based on the experiences of Donald Woods . He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director for both films. His most recent film as director was another biographical film, Grey Owl (1999), starring Pierce Brosnan . Attenborough is the President of RADA, Chairman of Capital Radio, President of BAFTA, President of the Gandhi Foundation, and President of the British National Film and Television School. He is also a vice patron of the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund. He is also the patron of the UWC movement (United World Colleges), whereby he continually contributes greatly to the colleges that are part of the organization. He has frequented the United World College of Southern Africa(UWCSA) Waterford Kamhlaba. His wife and he founded the "Richard and Sheila Attenborough Visual Arts Center".

He also founded the "Jane Holland Creative Center for Learning" at Waterford Kamhlaba in Swaziland in memory of his daughter, who died in the Tsunami on Boxing Day, 2004. He passionately believes in education, primarily education that does not judge upon color, race, creed or religion. His attachment to Waterford is his passion for non-racial education, which were the grounds on which Waterford Kamhlaba was founded. Waterford was one of his inspirations for directing Cry Freedom (1987), based on the life of Steve Biko. He was elected to the post of Chancellor of the University of Sussex on 20 March 1998, replacing the Duke of Richmond and Gordon. A lifelong supporter of Chelsea Football Club, Attenborough served as a director of the club from 1969-1982 and, since 1993, has held the honorary position of Life Vice President. He is also the head of the consortium, "Dragon International", which is constructing a film and television studio complex in Llanilid, Wales, often referred to as "Valleywood".

In 1967, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He was knighted in 1976 and, in 1993, he was made a life peer as Baron Attenborough, of Richmond-upon-Thames in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. On 13 July 2006, Attenborough and his brother, David Attenborough , were awarded the titles of Distinguished Honorary Fellows of the University of Leicester "in recognition of a record of continuing distinguished service to the University". Lord Attenborough is also listed as an Honorary Fellow of Bangor University for his continued efforts to film making. Attenborough has been married to English actress Sheila Sim , since 1945. They had three children. In December 2004, his elder daughter, Jane Holland, as well as her daughter Lucy and her mother-in-law, also named Jane, were killed in the tsunami caused by the Indian Ocean earthquake. A memorial service was held on 8 March 2005, and Attenborough read a lesson at the national memorial service on 11 May 2005.

His grandson, Samuel Holland, and granddaughter, Alice Holland, also read in the service. Attenborough's father was principal of University College, Leicester, now the city's university. This has resulted in a long association with the university, with Lord Attenborough a patron. A commemorative plaque was placed on the floor of Richmond Parish Church. The university's "Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts", which opened in 1997, is named in his Honor. His son, Michael Attenborough , is also a director. He has two younger brothers, the famous naturalist Sir David Attenborough and John Attenborough, who has made a career in the motor trade. He has collected Pablo Picasso ceramics since the 1950s. More than 100 items went on display at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery in Leicester in 2007; the exhibition is dedicated to his family members lost in the tsunami. ( 22 January 1945 - 24 August 2014) (his death) (3 children) Trade Mark (6) Frequently films movies about former British colonies.

Examples iclude India ( Gandhi (1982)), South Africa ( Cry Freedom (1987)), Canada ( Grey Owl (1999)) Frequently directs films about the lives of real-life individuals Warm, grandfatherly persona Making films with a moral message or a liberal political perspective Frequently cast 'Anthony Hopkins' It was his life ambition to direct Gandhi (1982). Philosophies include believing in content as opposed to style and sincerity rather than intelligence. He reprised his Jurassic Park (1993) character, John Hammond, for Universal Studio's Jurassic Park: The Ride attraction. He appears in a short film at the beginning of the ride telling you that the NEW Jurassic Park (the ride you're on) is completely safe, and that there will never be another incident like that at Costa Rica in 1993. 2004: 57 years after he starred in Brighton Rock (1947), his son Michael Attenborough directed a musical version of Graham Greene 's novel. 1952: Was the first to star in Agatha Christie 's "The Mousetrap", now the longest-running play in the world.

Has two brothers, naturalist/presenter David Attenborough , and John Attenborough. Also, during World War Two, his parents adopted two German Jewish girls, who had been brought to Britain as part of the Kindertransport. He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1967 Queen's Birthday Honours List, made a Knight Bachelor in the 1976 Queen's New Year Honours List and a life peer in the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours List. 2002-: Third president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). 1971-94: Vice-president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). 1990: Freeman of the City of Leicester, England. 1993: Fellow of King's College, London. Created an honorary D.Litt of the Universities of Leicester, Kent and Sussex in 1970, 1981 and 1987 respectively.

12/02: Said he would go back on his claim to never appear in front of the camera again for one role only: that of Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films. Former father-in-law of actress Jane Seymour . Life President of Chelsea Football Club. 2003: Was made President of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), a role that had been vacant since the death of Princess Diana in 1997. 2003: Was awarded the Patricia Rothermere Award for his lifelong service to theatre at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards. He was trained at RADA (The Royal Acadamy of Dramatic Arts), where he later became Chairman. Often casts Anthony Hopkins . Biography in: John Wakeman , editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 78-84. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988. Steven Spielberg has named him as an influence.

12/26/04: Members of his family - daughter Jane, son-in-law Michael Holland, grandchildren Sam, Lucy and Alice and Michael's mother Jane - were holidaying in Phuket, Thailand, when the area was hit by the South Asian tsunami on Boxing Day 2004. Lord Attenborough lost his daughter, her mother-in-law and his 14-year-old granddaughter Lucy in the tragedy. His elder granddaughter, 17-year-old Alice, was seriously injured and his son-in-law and grandson survived unscathed. Has been involved in some form with the University of Sussex since 1970; he was elected Chancellor of the University on March 20, 1998, replacing the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, who had held that post since 1985. 9/05: Attended the funeral of British film producer Lord John Brabourne . He was a close friend of the English actor Sir John Mills for many years, and gave the eulogy at his funeral in April 2005. 5/11/05: Gave a reading at a national British memorial service for the victims of the South Asian tsunami.

He lost three members of his family in the tragedy. Directed 4 different performers in Oscar-nominated performances: Ben Kingsley , Denzel Washington , Robert Downey Jr. and Debra Winger . Kingsley won an Oscar for his performance in Gandhi (1982). 1978: Officially retired from acting. He agreed to make a return to acting in Jurassic Park (1993), saying he was a huge admirer of Steven Spielberg and always felt bad that Gandhi (1982) had won the best picture award instead of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Spielberg had previously wanted to cast him as Tootles in Hook (1991), however, he'd been busy directing Chaplin (1992) at the time. Received an honorary doctorate from Dickinson College, Pennsylvania. Originally considered for the role of Harry in The Ladykillers (1955) by director Alexander Mackendrick . The role eventually went to Peter Sellers . In 2008 the UK Regional Critics' Film Awards were renamed The Richard Attenborough Film Awards, in his honour.

He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture. Along with Warren Beatty , Clint Eastwood , Mel Gibson , Kevin Costner and Robert Redford one of six actors to win an Academy Award for "Best Director". Was hospitalised in August 2008 when his heart stopped beating for a time, and again in December 2008 when he went into a coma for several days after suffering a fall. Is one of 9 directors to win the Golden Globe, Director's Guild, BAFTA, and Oscar for the same movie, winning for Gandhi (1982). The other directors to achieve this are Mike Nichols for The Graduate (1967), Milos Forman for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Oliver Stone for Platoon (1986), Steven Spielberg for Schindler's List (1993), Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain (2005), Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity (2013), and Alejandro G. Iñárritu for The Revenant (2015).

The last veteran of World War II to win an Oscar for Best Director. Father-in-law of Karen Lewis and Graham Sinclair . Before entrusting post-production on Jurassic Park (1993) to his friend George Lucas , Steven Spielberg thought he would have to divide his time between this and directing Schindler's List (1993). Spielberg at one point asked Attenborough, who had just appeared in Jurassic Park (1993), to serve as assistant director on Schindler's List (1993). This would have reunited Attenborough with Ben Kingsley , whom he directed in Gandhi (1982), which defeated E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) for Best Picture and Best Director. Attenborough's services turned out to be unnecessary, but he is not without his own connection to the material. While Attenborough is not himself Jewish, he does have two Jewish sisters: after World War II, his parents adopted two little girls whose parents had died in the Holocaust. According to his brother David Attenborough , Before his death, Richard was no longer able to walk and gets about in a wheelchair.

However, he still had all his other faculties about him, and was still as gregarious as ever. He was a close friend of Diana, Princess of Wales, and he coached her privately to help her become more confident about speaking in public in the early years of her marriage. She always called him "Dickie". Attended Princess Diana 's funeral, with Steven Spielberg , Tom Hanks , Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman . To date, he is the only performer to win two Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actor but not even be nominated for a corresponding Oscar. [2014] He made a cameo appearance as a lunatic wearing glasses in A Bridge Too Far (1977). This was his only acting role in a film that he directed. He died in Denville Hall care home in Northwood, London, on August 23, 2014, at lunchtime, five days before 91st birthday. He moved into the care home because of his failing health, in March 2013. His wife, Sheila, had been based there since June 2012. He was considered for the roles of Dr. Hans Fallada, Dr.

Bukovsky, Sir Percy Heseltine and Dr. Armstrong in Lifeforce (1985). Laurence Olivier offered Attenborough the role of one of the murderers in Richard III (1955) but he was unavailable. He directed his brother-in-law Gerald Sim in seven films: Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Young Winston (1972), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Gandhi (1982), Cry Freedom (1987), Chaplin (1992) and Shadowlands (1993). He died only thirteen days after his Hamlet (1996) co-star Robin Williams . He appeared in five films with John Mills : In Which We Serve (1942), Operation Disaster (1950), The Baby and the Battleship (1956), Dunkirk (1958) and Hamlet (1996). He also directed him in three films: Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Young Winston (1972) and Gandhi (1982).

In an AFI poll, he described Charles Chaplin 's film The Gold Rush (1925) as his favourite film. He appeared in three films with his wife Sheila Sim : Dancing with Crime (1947), The Outsider (1948) and The Magic Box (1951). Of the twelve films that he directed, Magic (1978), A Chorus Line (1985) and Closing the Ring (2007) were the only ones which were not based on real events. Carl Foreman was so impressed with his directorial debut Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) that he offered him the opportunity to both direct Young Winston (1972) and play Lord Randolph Churchill in the film. He declined the latter offer. He directed his former daughter-in-law Jane Seymour in two films: Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) and Young Winston (1972). Steven Spielberg offered Attenborough the role of Tootles in Hook (1991) but he had to decline as he was directing Chaplin (1992). Arthur Malet was cast instead.

Spielberg later cast Attenborough as John Hammond in Jurassic Park (1993), which was his first acting role since The Human Factor (1979). He appeared in six films with his brother-in-law Gerald Sim : The Angry Silence (1960), Whistle Down the Wind (1961), Only Two Can Play (1962), Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964), The Last Grenade (1970) and A Bridge Too Far (1977), which Attenborough also directed. He was the grandfather of Tom Attenborough . After Joseph Mazzello played his grandson in Jurassic Park (1993), Attenborough cast him as Douglas Gresham in Shadowlands (1993), his next film as a director. He was 25 when he played the 14-year-old Jack Read in The Outsider (1948). Of the twelve films that he directed, Magic (1978) and A Chorus Line (1985) were the only ones set in the present.

For his work in both The Sand Pebbles (1966) and Doctor Dolittle (1967), he's one of only 6 actors to win the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a motion picture without receiving an Oscar nomination for the same performance. The other 5 are, in chronological order: Millard Mitchell in My Six Convicts (1952) , Earl Holliman in The Rainmaker (1956), Stephen Boyd in Ben-Hur (1959), Oskar Werner in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) and Richard Benjamin in The Sunshine Boys (1975). He appeared with Joseph Mazzello in Jurassic Park (1993) and later directed him in Shadowlands (1993). Richard Attenborough obituary | Film | The Guardian Richard Attenborough obituary Outstanding figure in British cultural life, he was an actor, director and ebullient patron of several charities Richard Attenborough as Pinkie Brown in Brighton Rock, 1947.

Photograph: ABPC/Sportsphoto/Allstar Richard Attenborough obituary Outstanding figure in British cultural life, he was an actor, director and ebullient patron of several charities Sunday 24 August 2014 19.26 EDT First published on Sunday 24 August 2014 19.26 EDT Share on Messenger Close Richard Attenborough , who has died aged 90, had three distinct personas for those who followed his career in the entertainment world: the baby-faced, pint-sized actor, at turns, cocky and cowardly, later rotund in mostly creepy character roles; the film director of epics such as Gandhi, and Chaplin; and Lord "Dickie", ubiquitous, ebullient and lachrymose, presiding over a host of charitable organisations. However, each image merges into one complete picture of a cheerful humanitarian and imperishable idealist who, for over half a century, played an integral part in British cultural life.

In the history of cinema, the image of the actor will probably be the most enduring, though physically Attenborough lacked the requirements of a romantic leading man (ironically, his younger brother, David, the wildlife expert, had the film-star looks). In fact, Attenborough was in front of the camera for over a quarter of a century before his directorial debut, at the age of 46, with Oh! What a Lovely War in 1969. His first screen role was as a callow stoker who deserts his post in Noël Coward's In Which We Serve (1942), told in flashback by survivors while they cling to a life raft after their ship has been sunk off Crete in May 1941. Small as the part was, the 19-year-old Attenborough made an impression as a cockney coward for Coward. A cockney he wasn't, though he played mainly working-class characters throughout his career. Attenborough's father, Frederick, was a Cambridge don, who later became principal of University College Leicester. Richard, born in Cambridge, was exposed to culture early.

His parents and grandparents were all musical, and one of his first memories was hearing The Messiah conducted by Malcolm Sargent in the De Montfort Hall in Leicester. Above all, Richard and his two younger brothers, David and John, were brought up with a sense of social responsibility. Their mother, Mary, was chair of a committee to care for evacuee Basque children during the Spanish civil war, and she marched in protest against the bombing of Guernica. On the outbreak of the second world war, the Attenboroughs took two Jewish girls into their home, where they stayed for eight years. "That particular decision, not merely paying lip service but taking positive, responsible action to help other human beings, made a profound impression on me. It has, I suppose, affected my life and my attitudes ever since," Attenborough wrote. This is clear from most of his choices of subjects as a producer and director. He inherited his energy and non-stop activity from his mother, who died in a car accident, apparently suffering a heart attack as she was returning alone from a committee meeting.

Attenborough was educated in Leicester, at Wyggeston grammar school, and showed his acting skills early on, gaining a scholarship to Rada in 1940. His first part in the West End was Ralph Berger, the younger son of a Bronx Jewish family in Clifford Odets's Awake and Sing. The Times said he played it "with sound understanding", while the Daily Sketch thought he "showed an intensity of feeling and restraint for a youngster who has a big future". A few months before joining the RAF in June 1943, Attenborough achieved his greatest stage success in Brighton Rock, adapted from the Graham Greene novel by Frank Harvey. Attenborough as Pinkie Brown, the vicious young Catholic gangster, according to the New Statesman, "deserves to have won fame in a single night, for his study in abnormal psychology is thoughtful, delicate and powerful." This forceful performance was recreated in the 1947 Boulting Brothers film version, and remains one of Attenborough's most memorable creations. In 1945, while in the RAF Film Unit, he married Sheila Sim, whom he had met at Rada.

The year before, they had both been cast (though her role was cut out in the editing) in the wartime propaganda film Journey Together, directed by John Boulting, which was meant to demonstrate the special relationship between America and Britain. The US was represented by Edward G Robinson, who waived his fee for playing a flying instructor, while Attenborough was a would-be pilot who has to be content with being a navigator, reflecting his own frustration at never having become a pilot during the war. After demob, Attenborough continued in uniform on screen in Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death (in one shot as an airman) and Peter Ustinov's School for Secrets (both 1946). He was to play several soldiers and sailors into the 1970s. In The Man Within (1947), based on Greene's first novel, one of Attenborough's rare costume dramas, he was an adolescent member of a gang of smugglers, who betrays his leader (Michael Redgrave). He would continue to play teenagers into his late 20s.

Although he had not changed much physically since Pinkie on stage in Brighton Rock four years previously, he brought more maturity to his film performance. However, it was pushing it a bit to accept the 25-year-old Attenborough in the title role of The Guinea Pig (1948), a 15-year-old working-class scholarship boy at a posh public school, particularly as his wife Sheila played the house mistress. This was followed by another well-meaning social reform melodrama, Boys in Brown (1949), in which "bad 'uns" Attenborough and Dirk Bogarde were Borstal boys. In the same year, Attenborough took another neurotic role on stage, a mentally disturbed Jewish GI in Arthur Laurents's Home of the Brave. Then, eight months after the birth of Michael, their first child, Richard and Sheila appeared together in Roger MacDougall's farce To Dorothy a Son, which ran in the West End for over a year from November 1950. Meanwhile, Attenborough reprised his cowardly sailor role of In Which We Serve in the submarine drama, Morning Departure (1950) as Stoker Snipe, who cracks under pressure.

If John Mills represented the stiff-upper lip school, then Attenborough often had a quivering lower lip. "Pull yourself together, Stokes," says Commander Mills, slapping the hysterical Snipe. "Thank you, sir. I needed that." It worked, because Attenborough seldom let the side down again when below decks in Gift Horse (1952) and The Ship That Died of Shame (1955). In 1952, Sheila and Richard (as Detective Sergeant Trotter) led the first cast of a play which was to became a theatrical phenomenon. They stayed two years at the Ambassadors with The Mousetrap, of which its author Agatha Christie prophesied that "we should get a nice little run out of it". The Attenboroughs were still around to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the whodunnit's run. In the mid-1950s, Attenborough reunited with the Boulting brothers in a series of satirical comedies attacking some of Britain's institutions. Attenborough, now having put on more weight, was a louche figure in all of them.

In Private's Progress (1956), on the army, he was a scrounger; in Brothers in Law (1957), on the legal profession, a smarmy barrister; and in I'm All Right Jack (1959), on management and unions, he was Sydney de Vere Cox, a shady munitions manufacturer. In 1960, Attenborough formed Beaver Films with the actor and director Bryan Forbes, and an independent distribution company, Allied Film Makers, with Forbes, Guy Green, Michael Relph, Basil Dearden and Jack Hawkins. His first film as producer was The Angry Silence, an anti-trades union tract, in which Attenborough was a blackleg and yet a hero. Better was the delightfully piquant heist comedy The League of Gentlemen (1960) with a gallery of British ex-army types, including Attenborough in his spiv persona. Also for his own production company was Forbes's Seance On a Wet Afternoon (1964), in which Attenborough was medium Kim Stanley's weak husband.

The 1960s saw him break into Hollywood, with The Great Escape (1963), third-billed, after Steve McQueen and James Garner, as Squadron Leader "Big X" Bartlett, the master escape planner who is later executed. Further US movies were The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) in which he was an inept navigator whose alcoholism has led to a plane, piloted by James Stewart, to crash in the Sahara desert; in The Sand Pebbles (1966), supporting McQueen again, Attenborough was encouraged to go over the top as a crewman hopelessly in love with a Chinese girl bound for prostitution, and as circus man Albert Blossom in Dr Dolittle (1967). These roles were taken on to help finance his long-cherished project, a film on the life of Gandhi. It was the only film he thought he would direct, but when offered Oh! What a Lovely War, he accepted the challenge gladly.

Although the film, with a dazzling all-star cast of British actors, rather softened Joan Littlewood's scabrous stage satire on the first world war, its stylisation and clever seaside-postcard use of the Brighton pavilion and old pier made it Attenborough's most audacious and artistically successful project. The closing scene, a helicopter shot of thousands of white crosses in a military cemetery, as a chorus sings They'll Never Believe Me, is genuinely moving. Attenborough appeared in four features in 1970, mostly antipathetic roles, notably as the serial killer John Christie in 10 Rillington Place. The sight of a chubby, bald Attenborough wearing thick glasses rubbing a corpse and moaning with orgasmic delight is particularly disturbing. Sir Richard – he was knighted in 1976 – with a broad Scots accent, played a British general sent to take over a small kingdom in Satyajit Ray's The Chess Players (1977). He had met the great Bengali film director in India during his long quest to set up Gandhi.

"I count working for Ray as one of the milestones of my career." At the same time, Attenborough followed his directorial debut with two technically competent but illustrated schoolbook epics, Young Winston (1972) and A Bridge Too Far (1977), the latter about the allied defeat at Arnhem. Finally, in a similar mode, after 20 years, with Goldcrest having put up two-thirds of the £20m budget, Attenborough was able to make Gandhi (1982), which had a fine performance by Ben Kingsley in the title role. The film is dedicated to Lord Mountbatten, Pandit Nehru and an unknown Indian called Motilal Kothari, who suggested the subject to Attenborough in the first place in 1962. Nehru's advice to Attenborough was that it would be wrong to deify Gandhi: "He was too great a man for that." The film won eight Oscars – best picture, best actor, best director, best original screenplay, best cinematography, best art direction, best editing, best costume design – the biggest haul ever for a British movie.

In his acceptance speech, Attenborough said: "Gandhi believed if we could but agree, simplistic though it be, that if we do not resort to violence then the route to solving problems would be much different than the one we take." In the 1980s, he was an active and inspirational chairman of Channel 4 and the British Film Institute, as well as taking on a multitude of other duties with professional bodies and charities for film, theatre, drama and education. With A Chorus Line (1985), Attenborough once again took on material that seemed intractably theatrical. But, as much as he tried to make the Broadway musical "cinematic", such as using flashbacks, it defeated him, replacing cynicism with mawkishness. He was more at home with another portentous biopic, Cry Freedom (1987), through which he was able to express his anger with apartheid in South Africa.

The first half, dealing with the friendship between liberal white journalist Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) and anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko (Denzel Washington), up to the murder of Biko while in police custody, is impressive, but the second half, following Woods's escape from South Africa, descends into conventional thriller territory. When Attenborough's protracted attempts to make a film about Thomas Paine, the 18th century humanitarian and republican, fell through, he turned to another of his idols in Chaplin (1992), a sprawling, vacuous homage to the great comic. He continued on the biographical path, covering CS Lewis in Shadowlands (1993), the young Ernest Hemingway in In Love and War (1996) and the North American conservationist Archie Belaney in Grey Owl (1999), demonstrating that Attenborough's heart was definitely in the right place as was his camera, most of the time. He once told the film critic David Robinson that he derived the most pride from a back-handed compliment paid by an American critic.

As Attenborough explained: "He said something like, 'the problem with Attenborough's work is that he is more interested in the content than the execution.' Almost without exception that is true. I am glad to say I am sorry if I'm not more adventurous cinematically. But my concern is always, did the film say what I wanted to express or advocate?" After a gap of 13 years, he returned to the screen as an actor in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park (1993), as the mad genius who runs the theme park featuring genetically recreated dinosaurs, a role which he was to repeat in the sequel The Lost World (1997). This introduced him to a new generation of filmgoers, as did his twinkly-eyed Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street (1994), a pointless remake of the 1947 movie. In fact, it was not difficult to see something of Santa Claus in Attenborough, who disarmingly admits that the character is "not far from my own in terms of bonhomie". In his mid-80s, Attenborough was still active in film production.

The last one he directed was Closing the Ring, released in December 2007. It is a love story, set in South Carolina and northern Ireland. A dying gunner, who was in a crash involving a US B-17 plane in 1943, gives a ring to a local to return to his American girlfriend. Fifty years on, a man finds the ring and tracks down the girlfriend and the history of this ring. Attenborough was devastated by a triple tragedy that occurred on 26 December 2004 when his eldest daughter Jane, her daughter Lucy, and Jane's mother-in-law, Jane Holland, all perished in the Asian tsunami disaster. In 2008 he suffered a fall at his home in Richmond, south-west London and was rushed to hospital where he went into a coma, but recovered within a few days. Three years later, David said that his brother was confined to a wheelchair, and that it was unlikely he would be making any more films. In early 2012, he joined Sheila in a home for the care of elderly actors in London that they had both supported for many years. Attenborough was awarded a life peerage in 1993.

He is survived by Sheila, his son Michael and daughter Charlotte. • Richard Samuel Attenborough, Lord Attenborough, actor, producer, director, philanthropist, born 29 August 1923; died 24 August 2014 Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Ben Kingsley, Michael York and Saeed Jaffrey have offered their tributes to the late actor and director, who died earlier this week Published: 26 Aug 2014 A Biography of Richard Attenborough Dickie then went on to make three classic films for 20th Century Fox. The first was The Flight of the Phoenix , another favourite of mine. His best scene here is where he is laughing hysterically after finding out that Hardy Kruger was a "toy" aircraft designer rather than a real aircraft designer. That scene is something that has always stuck in my mind. His next film was the classic 'The Sand Pebbles " - another all time favourite film of mine and again with his friend, Steve McQueen. Dickie's performance was honoured with a Golden Globe award for best supporting actor.

This was a feat he repeated the next year with his third Hollywood film, Doctor Dolittle , in which we have the surprise of seeing Dickie dance and sing "I've Never Seen Anything Like It In My Life!" You can see a list of all of Richard Attenborough's awards by clicking here For many years, Dickie had been hoping and planning to make a film about the life of Mahatma Gandhi. As an initial directing project Dickie directed Oh! What a Lovely War and did such a good job of it that his career as a film director took off. Before directing his second film, Dickie gave his most chilling performance in 10 Rillington Place and it is that that I personally rate as his best ever performance. A brilliant film from an equally brilliant book, I urge you to see it - an all time classic that has been grossly underrated. The film is the astonishing true story about how an innocent man was hanged for a murder he did not commit. In 1972, Dickie also became the Chairman of RADA, a position that he still holds.

Dickie then directed a classic adventure film, Young Winston , based on Winston Churchill's book 'My Early Life' and this features some epic battle scenes - most notably an incredible recreation of the battle of Omdurman (1898). The huge amount of extras and sheer scope of some of the scenes no doubt led to Joseph Levine choosing Richard Attenborough to direct the epic war film A Bridge Too Far . Dickie had to get either Steve McQueen or Robert Redford to star in the film as they were the two biggest stars of the mid 1970's. Meeting up with his old friend Steve McQueen, Dickie was unable to persuade him to join the cast - Steve had effectively retired after the huge success of 'The Towering Inferno' and did not want to work. It was Robert Redford who was paid $1000,000 to be one of "14 Superstars" referred to on the UK quad poster. This is a film with one of the best star casts of all time ( The Great Escape is another). This feat is unlikely to be repeated bearing in mind top film star salaries. The recreation of the 'Operation Market Garden' is truly astonishing - no computer generated images here!

When you see hundreds and hundreds of soldiers parachuting, you see it for real. Dickie's acting career began to wane as he concentrated more and more on directing. Again working for Joseph Levine, Dickie directed Anthony Hopkins in Magic where Hopkins gave a performance of a lifetime playing a schizophrenic. Hopefully many more people will discover this film - a fantastic thriller. I loved the sinister dummy "Fats" - where is it now? If anybody knows, please e-mail me! After a few acting performances in the mid to late 1970's, notably Brannigan with John Wayne, Dickie made what appeared to be his final acting performance in a film in 1980 in The Human Factor . Dickie then went on to major success by finally realising his dream and making his film, Gandhi . The film is a tremendous epic and boasts, amongst other things, the biggest scene with extras of any film - a million Indians are in the scene of Gandhi's funeral! Now that must take some directing! Gandhi was a huge success. Dickie won the Oscar for best director and Ben Kingsley won the best actor Oscar for his role of Gandhi.

The film not only won the Oscar for best film of 1982 (beating Steven Speilberg's box office giant, 'E.T') but went on to win a total of 8 Oscars. Since this huge success, Dickie has directed a number of, mainly biographical, films and he has become one of leading film directors in the world. His friendship with fellow film director, Steven Speilberg lead to his return to acting. Speilberg needed an authority figure for his film, Jurassic Park . Dickie had specialised in authority figures from the late 1960's to 1980, playing mainly army officers and the like, ever since a tremendous performance as a Regimental Sergeant Major in Guns at Batasi . It was The Great Escape that Speilberg remembered though. Dickie's performance as the man who planned the entire escape was on his mind when he decided that Dickie was perfect for the role of John Hammond and he talked him out of acting retirement. Jurassic Park was a worldwide smash and bought Dickie to the attention of a whole new generation of fans.

The acting bug obviously bit Dickie again because the following year he starred in Miracle on 34th Street , making an ideal Father Christmas with his snow-white beard. Although still occasionally acting, Dickie has many other things on his plate. He is quite simply a giant of the British Film Industry. He was awarded the CBE in 1967 and received a Knighthood in 1976. Sir Richard Attenborough then was created a Life Peer in 1993 so now he is Lord Attenborough of Richmond-upon-Thames, which is where he has lived for 50 years. His other achievements include being Chairman of Channel 4 Television and he has been the Chairman of the British Film Institute and President of the British Screen Advisory Council. He had been a visiting Professor of Drama at Oxford, a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, Chancellor of Sussex University and is a Vice-President of Chelsea Football Club. Indeed, there are numerous other honours and positions which I haven't noted here! What astonishes me, is that nobody has created an Internet web site for Richard Attenborough until this one. I was after this web domain name for many years before I finally got it.

This web site was launched on 27th April 2003 (my 38th birthday) and I hope to add to it to create a suitable tribute to the great Richard Attenborough. Richard, thanks for all of those great films. It is to you that I respectfully dedicate this web site. Click on my name to e-mail me April 2003 Richard Attenborough Dead: Oscar-Winning ‘Gandhi’ Director Has Died | Variety Dan Kitwood/Getty Images August 24, 2014 | 02:30PM PT Richard Attenborough , who was honored for his helming and production of the 1982 Oscar best picture “ Gandhi ” but was best known to American audiences for his role in Steven Spielberg’s “ Jurassic Park ” and its first sequel as park creator John Hammond, died on Sunday, his son tells BBC News. He was 90. The stocky British filmmaker was awarded a life peerage by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993 for his stage work and for his efforts behind and in front of the camera to promote British cinema.

While Attenborough had been a prominent character actor in his native country since the early 1940s, he also achieved much as a producer, motion picture executive and cultural impresario. At various times he was chairman of the British Film Institute, Channel 4, Goldcrest Films, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and Capital Radio and a director of the Young Vic and the British Film Institute. In the late ’70s, he helped preserve and restore London’s Duke of York Theater. A career in film directing began in 1969 with an adaptation of Joan Littlewood’s biting musical satire “Oh! What a Lovely War.” Few of his directing efforts achieved the stature of “Gandhi,” which he had championed for more than 20 years. But there were noteworthy attempts to deal with historical and biographical subjects including “Cry Freedom,” about South African apartheid; “Chaplin,” a biography of the immortal screen comic; and “Shadowlands,” based on William Nicholson’s play focusing on British writer C.S. Lewis. “I have no interest in being remembered as a great creative filmmaker,” he once said.

“I want to be remembered as a storyteller.” Despite more than 50 years as a stage and screen actor — including supporting roles in adventure pics “The Flight of the Phoenix” (1965) and “The Sand Pebbles” (1966) and “Doctor Dolittle” (1967) — it was only in 1993 that Attenborough achieved widespread international recognition for his starring role in “Jurassic Park,” the largest-grossing film ever at the time. (Later acting credits included Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet” and the Cate Blanchett starrer “Elizabeth.”) In the late 1950s, in an effort to enhance the quality of his movie assignments, Attenborough united with writer-director Bryan Forbes to create Beaver Films. Their first effort, 1960’s “The Angry Silence,” was a sharply defined working-class drama, part of the new generation of realistic British films. In addition, Beaver produced “The League of Gentlemen,” “Whistle Down the Wind,” “The L-Shaped Room” and “Seance on a Wet Afternoon” between 1961 and 1964.

The last film, in which Attenborough co-starred with Kim Stanley, brought him the British Academy Award along with his work in “Guns at Batasi.” The positive reception for “Seance” in the U.S. coupled with his supporting role in hit WWII actioner “The Great Escape” in 1963 led to a career as a Hollywood character actor starting with “The Flight of the Phoenix” (1965) and “The Sand Pebbles” (1966). In 1967 he appeared in the big-budget musical “Doctor Dolittle,” which brought him a Golden Globe for supporting actor. With the help of British actors including Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, John Mills and Michael Redgrave, Attenborough was able to persuade Paramount Pictures to bank his debut directing effort, an adaptation of Joan Littlewood’s WWI fantasia “Oh What a Lovely War.” Though not a financial success in the U.S., the film was honored with a Golden Globe and six British Academy Awards.

Attenborough continued to act in films through the early ’70s in such efforts as “David Copperfield,” “A Severed Head,” “Loot” and the chilling “10 Rillington Place,” in which he played a mass murderer. By 1972 he had the money to shoot biographical adventure “Young Winston,” based on the early life of Winston Churchill. The pic was well received, but his next film, 1977’s “A Bridge Too Far,” sported an international name cast but was a $25 million flop. To produce and direct his next film, a biography of the life of Indian pacifist leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, Attenborough beat the bushes for 20 years and redoubled his efforts only after Lean abandoned a similar project. He turned down an offer to be associate director of Britain’s National Theater, mortgaged his house, sold his cars, pawned his paintings, took on a number of subpar roles in films such as “Brannigan,” “Rosebud” and “Ten Little Indians” and made a poor directing choice in “Magic” for producer Joseph E.

Levine, basically done as a favor to interest Levine in financing “Gandhi.” With the help of Goldcrest Films and Indian’s National Film Development Corp., Attenborough had financing in hand by the end of the 1970s. He passed on several prominent actors such as Alec Guinness and Dustin Hoffman to cast a highly regarded Royal Shakespeare Company actor, Ben Kingsley, who was part Indian. The film copped eight Oscars, including two for Attenborough as best director and for producing the best picture. Attenborough detailed his struggle to make the film in a book, “In Search of Gandhi,” published in 1982. In 1985, he was named chairman of Goldcrest just after he completed work on a failed film adaptation of the Broadway musical “A Chorus Line.” His next film, also a personal project, was “Cry Freedom,” the story of British journalist Donald Woods (played by Kevin Kline) and South African activist-martyr Steven Biko (a role for which Denzel Washington received a supporting actor Oscar nomination). His 1992 biopic “Chaplin” was less successful, though Robert Downey Jr. drew a deserved Oscar nomination for best actor.

The following year Attenborough directed Anthony Hopkins and Oscar nominated Debra Winger in “Shadowlands,” which proved both a commercial and critical success. That was the same year Attenborough’s face finally become familiar across America (and the world) in “Jurassic Park,” Spielberg’s monumental blockbuster based on Michael Crichton’s novel. It was his first acting assignment in 13 years and led to further work in front of the camera: He played Kris Kringle in John Hughes’ remake of “The Miracle on 34th Street” for the Fox Network, and over the next several years appeared in roles in Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet,” the Cate Blanchett starrer “Elizabeth” and telepic “The Railway Children” (2000). In 2006 he appeared in “Welcome to World War One,” a documentary about the making of “Oh! What a Lovely War.” Attenborough was still directing, too. In 1996 he helmed “In Love and War,” starring Chris O’Donnell and Sandra Bullock in the story of the young Ernest Hemingay and a nurse he loved after he was injured in WWI.

His 1999 film “Grey Owl” starred Pierce Brosnan as a Canadian fur trapper who became a conservationist. Attenborough attempted a film that, like “Gandhi,” carried a sociopolitical message, but Variety called the direction “old fashioned.” After an absence of eight years, Attenborough directed the sentimental tale “Closing the Ring” (2007), starring Christopher Plummer and Shirley MacLaine. In May 2012 Attenborough teamed with Martin Scorsese and Anthony Haas to develop the film “Silver Ghost,” a drama based on the true story of the founding of Rolls Royce. Attenborough was to direct, but he was in rapidly declining health after suffering a stroke in 2008 that left him in a wheelchair. The oldest son of an Anglo-Saxon scholar and university administrator, Attenborough was the eldest of three sons. (Brother David is a naturalist behind many acclaimed BBC documentary series). His mother, the former Mary Clegg, was the daughter of art historian Samuel Clegg. Born in Cambridge, he was already involved in amateur theatrics by his teens.

In 1940 Attenborough won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, making his professional debut while still a student in a production of Eugene O’Neill’s “Ah Wilderness!” In 1942 he made his screen debut in Noel Coward’s “In Which We Serve,” directed by David Lean. RADA honored him with the Bancroft Medal for fine acting in 1942 and, upon leaving school, he made his West End debut in Clifford Odets’ “Awake and Sing.” Significant roles in productions of “Twelfth Night” and “Brighton Rock” followed before Attenborough enlisted in the Royal Air Force, becoming part of its film unit. He also flew film reconnaissance missions over Germany during the war. In 1946 he signed a contract with producers John and Ray Boulting. He reprised his stage role in the film version of “Brighton Rock,” followed by “The Guinea Pig” in 1948 and “The Gift Horse” in 1952.

His film career sputtered in the 1950s: Projects like “Eight O’Clock Walk” and “The Baby and the Battleship” were abysmal. So he returned to the stage in “To Dorothy, a Son,” “Double Image” and Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” (appearing in the original cast as Detective Sergeant Trotter), which became England’s longest-running show. Beginning in 1956, the film side picked up when he appeared for the Boultings in a series of social satires including “Private’s Progress” and “I’m All Right, Jack.” His autobiography “Entirely Up to You, Darling” was published in 2008. Attenborough was married in early 1945 to actress Sheila Sim, with whom he had three children, Jane, Charlotte and Michael, all of whom worked in the performing arts. Upon hearing about his death, Steven Spielberg issued the following statement about Attenborough: “Dickie Attenborough was passionate about everything in his life – family, friends, country and career.

He made a gift to the world with his emotional epic “Ghandi” and he was the perfect ringmaster to bring the dinosaurs back to life as John Hammond in ‘Jurassic Park.’ He was a dear friend and I am standing in an endless line of those who completely adored him.” Actor and director Richard Attenborough dies aged 90 - BBC News BBC News Actor and director Richard Attenborough dies aged 90 25 August 2014 Image copyright AP Image caption Lord Attenborough, seen here in 2008, was among Britain's best-known actors Oscar-winning British film director Richard Attenborough has died at the age of 90, his son has said. Lord Attenborough was one of Britain's leading actors, before becoming a highly successful director. In a career that spanned six decades, he appeared in films including Brighton Rock, World War Two prisoner of war thriller The Great Escape and later in dinosaur blockbuster Jurassic Park. As a director he was perhaps best known for Gandhi, which won him two Oscars.

He was a dear friend and I am standing in an endless line of those who completely adored him Steven Spielberg Sir Ben Kingsley, who played the title role, said he would "miss him dearly". "Richard Attenborough trusted me with the crucial and central task of bringing to life a dream it took him 20 years to bring to fruition. "When he gave me the part of Gandhi it was with great grace and joy. He placed in me an absolute trust and in turn I placed an absolute trust in him and grew to love him." Jurassic Park director Steven Spielberg said Lord Attenborough was passionate about everything in his life. Image copyright PA Image caption Steven Spielberg (l) directed Lord Attenborough in 1993's Jurassic Park "He made a gift to the world with his emotional epic Gandhi and he was the perfect ringmaster to bring the dinosaurs back to life as John Hammond in Jurassic Park," he said. "He was a dear friend and I am standing in an endless line of those who completely adored him." Lord Attenborough had been in a nursing home with his wife for a number of years, BBC arts editor Will Gompertz said.

He had also been in a wheelchair since falling down stairs six years ago, our correspondent added. His son told the BBC that Lord Attenborough died at lunchtime on Sunday. 'Huge impact' Paying tribute, Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted : "His acting in "Brighton Rock" was brilliant, his directing of "Gandhi" was stunning - Richard Attenborough was one of the greats of cinema." Media captionJurassic Park actress Ariana Richards tells 5 live: 'He was a light in my life' Actress Mia Farrow tweeted : "Richard Attenborough was the kindest man I have ever had the privilege of working with. A Prince. RIP 'Pa' - and thank you." Former Channel 4 and BBC executive Lord Grade said Lord Attenborough had "phenomenal" energy and compassion. "Dickie was essentially a man who put much more in than he ever took out of the industry," he said. He also said Lord Attenborough had "huge authority", recalling a meeting in which he "banged the desk" and "frightened the life" out of then home secretary Douglas Hurd and a group of civil servants.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Lord Attenborough, pictured with brother David, attracted wide praise on social media on Sunday night Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Among his most celebrated roles was his performance as gangster Pinkie Brown in Brighton Rock British Film Institute chief executive Amanda Nevill said Lord Attenborough was a "born communicator" both through film and in person. "He was a man of huge warmth and integrity but always a man with a cause, I think somebody who really understood that film was such a powerful tool that could be used to influence and capture hearts and change the world," she said. 'Vocal campaigner' Chris Hewitt from Empire Magazine told BBC News Lord Attenborough had a "huge impact" on cinema, describing him as a "universally beloved" figure. Tribute was paid to the Labour peer from his party. "Lord Attenborough made an enormous contribution to our country and to the film industry both as an actor and a director. His films will be loved for generations to come," it said. "He believed passionately in social justice and the Labour Party and was a vocal campaigner against apartheid. He will be sadly missed.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends." Richard Attenborough - selected filmography In which we serve - 1942 Brighton Rock - 1947 The League of Gentlemen - 1960 The Great Escape - 1963 Miracle on 34th Street - 1994 Elizabeth - 1998 In Love and War - 1996 Grey Owl - 1999 Source: Imdb.com Lord Attenborough was also a life president of Chelsea Football Club, which said it was "deeply saddened" to learn of his death. "He led a long and successful life and always found time for the things in life he loved most, one of which was Chelsea FC," the club said. "His personality was woven into the tapestry of the club over seven decades. He was a consistent force for good at the club, even in dark times.

"He will be greatly missed, and the thoughts of everyone at Chelsea FC are with his family and friends at this sad time." Image copyright PA Image caption Richard Attenborough in 1983 with the two Oscars he won for his film Gandhi Image copyright EPA Image caption He had been in a nursing home with his wife for a number of years Along with his naturalist brother David, Lord Attenborough was one of Britain's best-known screen celebrities. He was hailed for his 1947 chilling portrayal of teenage hoodlum and murderer Pinkie in Brighton Rock. On stage he was a member of the original cast of Agatha Christie's long-running whodunnit, The Mousetrap. In the 1960s, he was part of a star-studded cast in The Great Escape. Media captionGandhi star Sir Ben Kingsley is among those paying tribute His greatest achievement as a director was the 1982 epic Gandhi, which collected eight Oscars. Later in his acting life he starred in Jurassic Park in 1993, as the park's billionaire creator John Hammond.

Born in Cambridge in 1923, he started acting at the age of just 12, making his professional stage debut aged 18. He was appointed a CBE in 1967 and knighted nine years later in 1976, before being made a life peer in 1993. He married his wife, actress Sheila Sim, in 1945. His son Michael was born in 1949, followed by two daughters, Jane and Charlotte. Michael is a theatre director and former artistic director of the Almeida Theatre in Islington, north London, and Charlotte is an actress. His family faced tragedy in 2004 when his elder daughter Jane Holland, her daughter, Lucy, and her mother-in-law, also named Jane, were killed in the south Asian tsunami on Boxing Day.

Question: In which war film did Richard Attenborough play ‘Big X’?
Answer: The Great Escape