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John Hughes mini-bio: John Hughes, Jr. (February 18, 1950–August 6, 2009) was an American film director, producer and writer, responsible for some of the most successful comedy films of the 1980s and 1990s, including National Lampoon's Vacation, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Weird Science, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck, Home Alone and its sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
Hughes was born in Lansing, Michigan to a mother who volunteered in charity work and John Hughes, Sr., who worked in sales. A 1968 graduate of Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois, Hughes used Northbrook and the adjacent North Shore area for shooting locations in many of his films, as well as using the original name of Northbrook (once Shermerville, Illinois) as the setting of a number of films.
Hughes began his career as an ad copywriter in Chicago. During this time, he created what became the famous Edge "Credit Card Shaving Test" ad campaign.
His first credited screenplay, Class Reunion, was written while still on staff at the magazine. The resulting film became the second disastrous attempt by the flagship to duplicate the runaway success of Animal House. It was Hughes' next screenplay for the imprint, National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), however, that would prove to be a major hit, putting the Lampoon back on the map. Although Hughes had no involvement in European Vacation (1985), he did write and co-produced Christmas Vacation (1989) based on another of his Lampoon stories.
His first directorial effort, Sixteen Candles, won almost unanimous praise when it was released in 1984, due in no small part to its more realistic depiction of high school life, which stood in stark contrast to the Porky's-inspired comedies being made at the time. It was also the first in a string of efforts set in or around high school, including The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Weird Science and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (See also Brat Pack).
Since 1994, Hughes has retired from the public eye and has lived in Wisconsin,rarely granting or giving interviews or photographs to the media save a select few interviews in 1999 to promote the soundtrack album to Reach the Rock, an independent film he wrote. The album was compiled by Hughes' son, John Hughes III, and released on his son's Chicago-based record label, Hefty Records.
He also recorded an audio commentary for the 1999 DVD release of Ferris Bueller's Day Off.[ A photograph of him visiting his son on the set of his son's film in 2001 is the last photo taken of him in public.
Hughes passed away on August 6, 2009 from a heart attack. | VITAL STATS | | Eye color:green | | Height: | | Nickname(s): | | Notable feature(s): | | Education: Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois | Family:parents john snr &
wife nancy
sons james & john
four grandchildren | | Resides in: Williams Bay, Wisconsin & owns farm land in Harvard, Illinois | | Religious affiliations: | | Political affiliation: | | Personal interests/hobbies:writing, directing | | Charities/Causes: | Other:Uses the pen name Edmond Dantès, a homage to the lead character in The Count of Monte Cristo (1934).
Started out in the '70s as a writer for National Lampoon magazine | | |
ervind58posted 93 days ago
