Image copyright
PA Media
Sir Alan Parker, the acclaimed British director of films like Fame, Evita and Bugsy Malone, died at the age of 76.
Her many other credits include Midnight Express, Mississippi Burning, The Commitments, Angela’s Ashes, and Birdy.
Founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain, he was also Chairman of the UK Film Council.
He died on Friday after a long illness and is survived by his wife Lisa Moran-Parker, five children and seven grandchildren.
Sir Alan received the CBE in 1995 and a knighthood in 2002.
Born in London in 1944, he began his advertising career as a copywriter, but quickly graduated to write and direct commercials.
Media playback is not supported on your device
In 1974 he directed the BBC film The Evacuees, earning a Bafta for directing, the first of seven awards he received from the British Academy.
In 1984 Bafta honored him with the Michael Balcon Award for his outstanding contribution to British cinema.
That was followed in 2013 by the prestigious Bafta scholarship.
However, he was never honored at the Oscars, despite being twice nominated for Best Director.
Final movie
Film director David Puttnam remembered Parker as his “oldest and closest friend,” adding: “I was always amazed at his talent.”
Parker’s last film as a director was the 2003 drama The Life of David Gale, starring Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet.
In 2005 he published Will Write and Direct for Food, a compendium of his often satirical observations on filmmaking in the United Kingdom and the United States.
In 2018 he donated his extensive collection of scripts and working documents to the National Archive of the British Film Institute.
According to a family spokeswoman, she spent her retirement indulging her passion for screen printing and painting.
Follow us Facebook, On twitter @BBCNewsEntsor on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion please email [email protected],
