Richard Attenborough

Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough ( ; 29 August 1923 – 24 August 2014) was an English actor, film director, and producer. He won a total of two Academy Awards, six BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards for his directing and acting career spanning seven decades. He was knighted in 1976 for services to film and in 1983 he received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.

As an actor, Attenborough is best remembered for his film roles in Brighton Rock (1948), I'm All Right Jack (1959), The Great Escape (1963), Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964), The Sand Pebbles (1966), Doctor Dolittle (1967), 10 Rillington Place (1971), Jurassic Park (1993) and Miracle on 34th Street (1994). On stage, he appeared in the West End in 1952, originating the role of Detective Sergeant Trotter in Agatha Christie's murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has since become the longest-running play in London and the world.

For his directorial debut in Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Attenborough was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Direction. He was additionally nominated for his films Young Winston (1972), A Bridge Too Far (1977) and Cry Freedom (1987). For the film Gandhi, in 1983, he received the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. The British Film Institute ranked Gandhi number 34 in its list of greatest British films of the 20th century. His later films include Chaplin (1992) (a biography of Charlie Chaplin), and a fifth collaboration with Anthony Hopkins in Shadowlands (1993).

Attenborough was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), of which he was an alumnus, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), as well as life president of the Premier League club Chelsea. He joined the Royal Air Force during World War II and served in the film unit, going on several bombing raids over continental Europe and filming the conflict from the rear gunner's position. He was the older brother of broadcaster and nature presenter Sir David Attenborough and motor executive John Attenborough. He was married to actress Sheila Sim from 1945 until his death.

Early life Attenborough was born on 29 August 1923 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, the eldest son of three from mother Mary Attenborough (née Clegg)—a founding member of the Marriage Guidance Council—and father Frederick Levi Attenborough, a scholar and academic administrator who was a fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and wrote a standard text on Anglo-Saxon law. Attenborough was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys in Leicester and studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.

In September 1939, while father Frederick Attenborough was Principal of University College, Leicester (1932–1951), the Attenboroughs took in two German Jewish refugee girls, Helga and Irene Bejach (aged 9 and 11, respectively), the girls living with them in College House and being adopted by the family after the war, when it was discovered that their parents had been killed. The sisters moved to the US in the 1950s and lived with an uncle; Irene died in 1992, and Helga in 2005.

During the Second World War, Attenborough served in the Royal Air Force.

Career Acting

Attenborough's acting career started on the theatre stage, where he appeared in shows at Leicester's Little Theatre, Dover Street, prior to his attending RADA. His debut was in 1937 when he played Lucius in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

Attenborough's first major, credited role was portraying Tommy Draper in Brian Desmond Hurst's The Hundred Pound Window (1944), a role in which the character helps to rescue his accountant father who has taken a wrong turn in life. Attenborough's film career had begun by 1942, in an uncredited role as a sailor deserting his post under fire in the Noël Coward/David Lean production In Which We Serve (his name and character were omitted from the original release-print credits), a role that helped typecast him for many years as a spiv in films like London Belongs to Me (1948), Morning Departure (1950) and his breakthrough role as Pinkie Brown in John Boulting's film adaptation of Graham Greene's novel Brighton Rock (1948), a role that he had previously played to great acclaim at the Garrick Theatre in 1943.

Early in his stage career, Attenborough starred in the West End production of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, which went on to become the world's longest-running stage production. Both he and his wife were among the original cast members of the production, which opened in 1952 at the Ambassadors Theatre, moving to St Martin's Theatre in 1974; the production ran continuously for nearly seven decades, until it was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The Attenboroughs took a 10 per cent profit-participation in the production, which was paid for out of their combined weekly salary; Attenborough later wrote in his autobiography, "It proved to be the wisest business decision I've ever made... but foolishly I sold some of my share to open a short-lived Mayfair restaurant called 'The Little Elephant' and later still, disposed of the remainder in order to keep Gandhi afloat." At the beginning of the 1950s Attenborough featured on radio on the BBC Light Programme introducing records.

Attenborough worked prolifically in British films for the next 30 years, including in the 1950s, appearing in several successful comedies for John and Roy Boulting, such as Private's Progress (1956) and I'm All Right Jack (1959). In 1963, he appeared alongside Steve McQueen and James Garner in The Great Escape as RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett ("Big X"), the head of the escape committee, based on the real-life exploits of Roger Bushell. His portrayal of the serial killer John Christie in 10 Rillington Place (1971) garnered excellent reviews. In 1977, he played the ruthless General Outram, again to great acclaim, in the Indian director Satyajit Ray's period piece The Chess Players. He played the 'Old Gentleman' in the rear carriage of the train in the TV movie The Railway Children made in 2000.

He made his only appearance in a film adaptation of Shakespeare when he played the English ambassador who announces that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead at the end of Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996).

Directing Attenborough in a press conference with Joseph E. Levine at the premiere of A Bridge Too Far, June 1977

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 (1959), The Angry Silence (1960) and Whistle Down the Wind (1961), appearing in the cast of the first two films. His performance in The Angry Silence earned him his first nomination for a BAFTA Award, while Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) won him his first BAFTA.

His feature film directorial debut was the all-star screen version of the hit musical Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), after which his acting appearances became sporadic as he concentrated more on directing and producing. and two Golden Globes, this time for Best Director and Best Foreign Film, in 1983.

His later films as director and producer include Chaplin (1992) starring Robert Downey Jr. as Charlie Chaplin, and Shadowlands (1993), based on the relationship between C. S. Lewis and Joy Gresham (C. S. Lewis was portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, who had appeared in four previous films for Attenborough: Young Winston, A Bridge Too Far, Magic and Chaplin).

Between 2006 and 2007, he spent time in Belfast, working on his last film as director and producer, Closing the Ring, a love story set in Belfast during the Second World War, and starring Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer and Pete Postlethwaite.

Later projects

After 33 years of dedicated service as President of the Muscular Dystrophy campaign, Attenborough became the charity's Honorary Life President in 2004. In 2012, the charity, which leads the fight against muscle-wasting conditions in the UK, established the Richard Attenborough Fellowship Fund to honour his lifelong commitment to the charity, and to ensure the future of clinical research and training at leading UK neuromuscular centres.

Attenborough was also the patron of the United World Colleges movement, whereby he contributed to the colleges that are part of the organisation. He was a frequent visitor to the Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa (UWCSA).

He was a longtime advocate of education that does not judge upon colour, race, creed or religion.

Attenborough served as Chair of the British Film Institute between 1981 and 1992. He founded The Richard Attenborough Arts Centre on the Leicester University campus in 1997, specifically designed to provide access for disabled people, in particular as practitioners. He was elected to the post of Chancellor of the University of Sussex on 20 March 1998, replacing The Duke of Richmond and Gordon. He stood down as Chancellor of the university following graduation in July 2008.

A lifelong supporter of Chelsea Football Club, Attenborough served as a director of the club from 1969 to 1982 and between 1993 and 2008 held the honorary position of Life Vice President.

He was also head of the consortium Dragon International Film Studios, which was constructing a film and television studio complex in Llanilid, Wales, nicknamed "Valleywood". In March 2008, the project was placed into administration with debts of £15 million and was considered for sale of the assets in 2011. A mooted long-term lease to Fox 21 fell through in 2015, though the facilities continue to be used for filmmaking.

He had a lifelong ambition to make a film about his hero the political theorist and revolutionary Thomas Paine, whom he called "one of the finest men that ever lived". He said in an interview in 2006 that "I could understand him. He wrote in simple English. I found all his aspirations – the rights of women, the health service, universal education... Everything you can think of that we want is in Rights of Man or The Age of Reason or Common Sense." He could not secure the funding to do so. The website "A Gift for Dickie" was launched by two filmmakers from Luton in June 2008 with the aim of raising £40m in 400 days to help him make the film, but the target was not met and the money that had been raised was refunded.

Personal life Attenborough's father was the principal of University College, Leicester, now the city's university. This resulted in a long association with the university, with Attenborough becoming a patron. The university's Embrace Arts at the RA centre, which opened in 1997 is named in his honour. He had two younger brothers: naturalist and broadcaster David and motor trade executive John. From 1949 until October 2012, they lived in Old Friars on Richmond Green in London which they had bought in their early acting days.

On 26 December 2004, the couple's elder daughter, Jane Holland (born 30 September 1955), along with her mother-in-law, Audrey Holland, and Attenborough's 15-year-old granddaughter, Lucy, were killed when a tsunami caused by the Indian Ocean earthquake struck Khao Lak, Thailand, where they were on holiday.

A service was held on 8 March 2005 and Attenborough read a lesson at the national memorial service on 11 May 2005. His grandson, who survived the tsunami uninjured, and granddaughter, who suffered severe leg injuries, also read in the service. He publicly endorsed the Labour Party in the 2005 general election, despite his opposition to the Iraq War.

Attenborough collected Picasso ceramics from the 1950s. More than 100 items went on display at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery in Leicester in 2007, in an exhibition dedicated to family members lost in the tsunami.

In 2008, he published an informal autobiography entitled Entirely Up to You, Darling in association with his colleague Diana Hawkins.

Health and death

In August 2008, Attenborough entered hospital with heart problems and was fitted with a pacemaker. In December 2008, he suffered a fall at his home after a stroke

In January 2011, he sold his Rhubodach estate on the Scottish Isle of Bute for £1.48 million. In May 2011, David Attenborough said his brother had required a wheelchair since his stroke in 2008,

In June 2012, shortly before her 90th birthday, Sheila Sim entered the professional actors' retirement home Denville Hall, in Northwood, London, for which she and Attenborough had helped raise funds. In October 2012, it was announced that Attenborough was putting the family home, Old Friars, with its attached offices, Beaver Lodge, which came complete with a sound-proofed cinema in the garden, on the market for £11.5 million. His brother David stated: "He and his wife both loved the house, but they now need full-time care. It simply isn't practical to keep the house on any more." In December 2012, in light of his deteriorating health, Attenborough moved into the same nursing home in London to be with his wife, as confirmed by their son Michael.

Attenborough died at Denville Hall, on 24 August 2014, five days short of his 91st birthday. He requested that his ashes be interred in a vault at St Mary Magdalene church in Richmond beside those of his daughter Jane and his granddaughter Lucy, who had died in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. He was survived by Sheila, his wife of 69 years, their oldest and youngest children, six grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and his younger brother David. Sheila died on 19 January 2016.

Honours In the 1967 Birthday Honours, Attenborough was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He was made a Knight Bachelor in the 1976 New Year Honours, having the honour conferred on 10 February 1976.

Attenborough was the subject of the BBC's This Is Your Life in December 1962 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the Savoy Hotel, during a dinner held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap, in which he had been an original cast member.

In 1983, Attenborough was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolence Peace Prize by the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. He was also awarded France's most distinguished awards, the Legion of Honour and the Order of Arts and Letters and the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo by the South African government for his "contribution to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa."

In 1992, the Hamburg-based Alfred Toepfer Foundation awarded Attenborough its annual Shakespeare Prize in recognition of his life's work. The following year he was appointed a Fellow of King's College London.

On 30 July 1993, he was created a life peer as Baron Attenborough, of Richmond upon Thames in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Although the appointment by John Major was 'non-political' (it was granted for services to the cinema) and he could have been a crossbencher, Attenborough chose to take the Labour whip and so sat on the Labour benches. In 1992, he had been offered a peerage by Neil Kinnock, then leader of the Labour Party, but declined it as he felt unable to commit himself to the time necessary "to do what was required of him in the Upper Chamber, as he always put film-making first".

On 13 July 2006, Attenborough, along with his brother David, 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". On 20 November 2008, Attenborough was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Drama from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow. Attenborough was an Honorary Fellow of Bangor University for his contributions to film making.

Pinewood Studios paid tribute to his body of work by naming a purpose-built sound stage after him. In his absence because of illness, Lord Puttnam and Pinewood chairman Lord Grade officially unveiled the stage on 23 April 2012.

The Arts for India charity committee honoured Attenborough posthumously on 19 October 2016 at an event hosted at the home of BAFTA.

Filmography Year Title Director Producer 1960 The Angry Silence 1961 Whistle Down the Wind 1962 The L-Shaped Room 1964 Séance on a Wet Afternoon 1969 Oh! What a Lovely War 1972 Young Winston 1977 A Bridge Too Far 1978 Magic 1982 Gandhi 1985 A Chorus Line 1987 Cry Freedom 1992 Chaplin 1993 Shadowlands 1996 In Love and War 1999 Grey Owl 2007 Closing the Ring

Acting roles Year Title Role Notes 1942 In Which We Serve A young stoker 1943 Schweik's New Adventures Railway worker 1944 The Hundred Pound Window Tommy Draper 1945 Journey Together David Wilton 1946 A Matter of Life and Death A British pilot School for Secrets Jack Arnold 1947 The Man Within Francis Andrews Dancing with Crime Ted Peters 1948 Brighton Rock Pinkie Brown London Belongs to Me Percy Boon The Guinea Pig Jack Read 1949 The Lost People Jan Boys in Brown Jackie Knowles 1950 Morning Departure Stoker Snipe 1951 Hell Is Sold Out Pierre Bonnet The Magic Box Jack Carter 1952 Gift Horse Dripper Daniels Father's Doing Fine Dougall 1954 Eight O'Clock Walk Thomas "Tom" Leslie Manning 1955 The Ship That Died of Shame George Hoskins 1956 Private's Progress Pvt. Percival Henry Cox The Baby and the Battleship Knocker White 1957 Brothers in Law Henry Marshall The Scamp Stephen Leigh 1958 Dunkirk John Holden The Man Upstairs Peter Watson Sea of Sand Brody 1959 Danger Within Capt. "Bunter" Phillips I'm All Right Jack Sidney De Vere Cox Jet Storm Ernest Tiller SOS Pacific Whitey Mullen 1960 The Angry Silence Tom Curtis The League of Gentlemen Lexy Upgreen – And at 'Em 1962 Only Two Can Play Gareth L. Probert All Night Long Rod Hamilton The Dock Brief Herbert Fowle 1963 The Great Escape Sqn. Ldr. Roger Bartlett "Big X" 1964 The Third Secret Alfred Price-Gorham Séance on a Wet Afternoon Billy Savage Guns at Batasi Regimental Sgt. Major Lauderdale 1965 The Flight of the Phoenix Lew Moran 1966 The Sand Pebbles Frenchy Burgoyne 1967 Doctor Dolittle Albert Blossom 1968 Only When I Larf Silas The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom Robert Blossom 1969 The Magic Christian Oxford coach 1970 The Last Grenade Gen. Charles Whiteley Loot Inspector Truscott A Severed Head Palmer Anderson 1971 10 Rillington Place John Christie 1972 Cup Glory Narrator 1974 And Then There Were None Judge Arthur Cannon 1975 Brannigan Cmdr. Sir Charles Swann Rosebud Edward Sloat Conduct Unbecoming Maj. Lionel E. Roach 1977 Shatranj Ke Khilari Lt. General Outram Hindi movie A Bridge Too Far Lunatic wearing glasses Uncredited 1979 The Human Factor Col. John Daintry 1993 Jurassic Park John Hammond 1994 Miracle on 34th Street Kris Kringle 1996 E=mc2 The Visitor Hamlet English Ambassador to Denmark 1997 The Lost World: Jurassic Park John Hammond 1998 Elizabeth Sir William Cecil 1999 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Jacob 2000 The Railway Children The Old Gentleman 2002 Puckoon Narrator Final film role 2015 Jurassic World John Hammond Archive audio only

Video games Year Title Voice role 1997 Chaos Island: The Lost World John Hammond 1998 Trespasser 2015 Lego Jurassic World John Hammond (posthumous role using archive audio from the films)