SIR RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH
Name: Richard Samuel Attenborough
Born: 29 August 1923 Cambridge, England
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, CBE (born 29 August 1923) is an
English actor, director, producer, and entrepreneur. Attenborough has won two
Academy Awards, BAFTA and three Golden Globes. He is the older brother of
naturalist filmmaker, Sir David Attenborough.
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).
Attenborough's film career began in 1942 as a deserting sailor in In Which We
Serve, a role which would help to type-cast him for many years as spivs or
cowards in films like London Belongs to Me (1948), Morning Departure (1950), and
his breakthrough role as a psychopathic young gangster in the film of Graham
Greene's novel Brighton Rock (1947). During World War II Attenborough served in
the Royal Air Force.
Attenborough worked prolifically in British films for the next thirty years, and
in the 1950s appeared in several successful comedies for John 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. In 1963
he appeared in the ensemble cast of The Great Escape, 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 starring Steve
McQueen, and the second time for Doctor Dolittle starring Rex Harrison. He would
win another Golden Globe for Best Director, for Gandhi, in 1983. Six years prior
to Gandhi he played the ruthless General Outram in Indian director Satyajit Ray's
period piece The Chess Players. 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 version of
The Human Factor in 1979, until his appearance as the eccentric developer John
Hammond in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park in 1993. The following year he
starred in the remake of Miracle on 34th Street as Kris Kringle. Since then he
has made occasional appearances in supporting roles including the 1998
historical drama Elizabeth as Sir William Cecil.
Name: Richard Samuel Attenborough
Born: 29 August 1923 Cambridge, England
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, CBE (born 29 August 1923) is an
English actor, director, producer, and entrepreneur. Attenborough has won two
Academy Awards, BAFTA and three Golden Globes. He is the older brother of
naturalist filmmaker, Sir David Attenborough.
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).
Attenborough's film career began in 1942 as a deserting sailor in In Which We
Serve, a role which would help to type-cast him for many years as spivs or
cowards in films like London Belongs to Me (1948), Morning Departure (1950), and
his breakthrough role as a psychopathic young gangster in the film of Graham
Greene's novel Brighton Rock (1947). During World War II Attenborough served in
the Royal Air Force.
Attenborough worked prolifically in British films for the next thirty years, and
in the 1950s appeared in several successful comedies for John 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. In 1963
he appeared in the ensemble cast of The Great Escape, 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 starring Steve
McQueen, and the second time for Doctor Dolittle starring Rex Harrison. He would
win another Golden Globe for Best Director, for Gandhi, in 1983. Six years prior
to Gandhi he played the ruthless General Outram in Indian director Satyajit Ray's
period piece The Chess Players. 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 version of
The Human Factor in 1979, until his appearance as the eccentric developer John
Hammond in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park in 1993. The following year he
starred in the remake of Miracle on 34th Street as Kris Kringle. Since then he
has made occasional appearances in supporting roles including the 1998
historical drama Elizabeth as Sir William Cecil.