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Richard Attenborough is a Actor, Director and Producer British born on 29 august 1923 at Cambridge (United-kingdom)

Richard Attenborough

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Birth name Richard Samuel Attenborough
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 29 august 1923 at Cambridge (United-kingdom)
Death 24 august 2014 (at 90 years) at Greater London (United-kingdom)
Awards Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, BAFTA Award for Best Film, Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Padma Bhushan, Academy Award for Best Director

Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, CBE (/ˈætənbʌrə/; 29 August 1923 – 24 August 2014) was an English actor, film director, film producer, entrepreneur and politician. He was the President of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

As a film director and producer, Attenborough won two Academy Awards for Gandhi in 1983. He also won four BAFTA Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. As an actor, he is perhaps best known for his roles in Brighton Rock, The Great Escape, 10 Rillington Place, Miracle on 34th Street and Jurassic Park.

He was the older brother of David Attenborough, a naturalist and broadcaster, and John Attenborough, an executive at Alfa Romeo. He was married to actress Sheila Sim from 1945 until his death.

Biography

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 John (died 2012), who had made a career in the motor trade.

Attenborough married actress Sheila Sim in 1945. From 1949 until October 2012 they lived in Beaver Lodge on Richmond Green in London. The house was sold in October 2012 for £11.5 million, owing to the couple's deteriorating health.

On 26 December 2004 the couple's eldest daughter, 49-year-old Jane Holland, along with her mother-in-law, also named Jane, 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 Samuel Holland, an actor in his own right, who survived the tsunami uninjured, and granddaughter Alice Holland, who suffered severe leg injuries, also read in the service. A commemorative plaque was placed in the floor of St. Mary Magdalen's parish church in Richmond. Attenborough later described the Boxing Day of 2004 as "the worst day of my life". Attenborough had two other children, Michael and Charlotte. Michael was a theatre director and the former artistic director of the Almeida Theatre in London and has been married to actress Karen Lewis since 1984; they have two sons. Charlotte is an actress, and has three children.

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 long-standing friend and colleague Diana Hawkins.

Illness 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, and was admitted to St George's Hospital in Tooting, southwest London. In November 2009 Attenborough, in what he called a "house clearance" sale, sold part of his extensive art collection, which included works by L. S. Lowry, Christopher R. W. Nevinson and Graham Sutherland, generating £4.6 million at Sotheby's.

In January 2011, he sold his Rhubodach estate on the Scottish Isle of Bute for £1.48 million.

In May 2011, David Attenborough revealed that his brother had been confined to a wheelchair since his stroke in 2008, but was still capable of holding a conversation. He added that "he won't be making any more films."

In June 2012, shortly before her 90th birthday, Sheila Sim entered the actors' home Denville Hall, for which she and Attenborough had helped raise funds. In July 2012 it was announced that Sim has been diagnosed with senile dementia.

In October 2012, it was announced that Attenborough was putting the family home, Old Friars, with its attached offices, Beaver Lodge, which come 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 March 2013, in light of his deteriorating health, Attenborough moved into a nursing home in London to be with his wife, as confirmed by their son Michael.

Attenborough died on 24 August 2014, five days before his 91st birthday. Richard Attenborough was survived by his wife of almost 70 years, their two surviving children, six surviving grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
He was considered for and had been in negotiations for a reprising of his role as John Hammond in the soon-to-be-at-the-time-released-in 2015 film Jurassic World before his death. Unfortunately, he died before full production on it properly began.