John Hughes (filmmaker)

John Wilden Hughes Jr. (February 18, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He began his career in 1970 as an author of humorous essays and stories for the ''National Lampoon'' magazine. He went on in Hollywood to write, produce and direct some of the most successful live-action-comedy films of the 1980s and 1990s. He directed such films as ''Sixteen Candles'', ''The Breakfast Club'', ''Weird Science'', ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'', ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'', ''She's Having a Baby'', and ''Uncle Buck''; and wrote the films ''National Lampoon's Vacation'', ''Mr. Mom'', ''Pretty in Pink'', ''The Great Outdoors'', ''National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'', ''Home Alone'', ''Dutch'', and ''Beethoven''.

Most of Hughes' works were set in Chicago. He is best known for his coming-of-age teen comedy films with honest depictions of suburban teenage life. Many of his most enduring characters from these years were written for Molly Ringwald. While out on a walk one morning in New York City in the summer of 2009, Hughes suffered a fatal heart attack. His legacy after his death was honored by many, including at the 82nd Academy Awards by many actors he had worked with such as Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Anthony Michael Hall, Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Macaulay Culkin, among others. Actors whose careers Hughes helped launch include Michael Keaton, Hall, Bill Paxton, Broderick, Culkin, and members of the Brat Pack group. Provided by Wikipedia