NEW YORK -- A spokeswoman for John Hughes says the director of 1980s coming-of-age films like "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club" has died in Manhattan.

Michelle Bega says the 59-year-old Hughes died of a heart attack during a morning walk. He was in Manhattan to visit family.

He made a teen star of Molly Ringwald with 1984's "Sixteen Candles" about a girl's nightmarish birthday on the eve of her sister's wedding.

Ringwald also starred in "The Breakfast Club," about a group of high school misfits during Saturday detention, and "Pretty in Pink".

Hughes also directed "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and wrote "Home Alone." He lived in Illinois and set many of his films in the Chicago area.

Link (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32320427/ns/entertainment-movies/)


NEW YORK - Writer-director John Hughes, Hollywood’s youth impresario of the 1980s and ’90s who captured and cornered the teen and pre-teen market with such favorites as “Home Alone,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” died Thursday, a spokeswoman said. He was 59.

Hughes died of a heart attack during a morning walk in Manhattan, Michelle Bega said. He was in New York to visit family.

A native of Lansing, Mich., who later moved to suburban Chicago and set much of his work there, Hughes rose from ad writer to comedy writer to silver screen champ with his affectionate and idealized portraits of teens, whether the romantic and sexual insecurity of “Sixteen Candles,” or the J.D. Salinger-esque rebellion against conformity in “The Breakfast Club.”

Hughes’ ensemble comedies helped make stars out of Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy and many other young performers. He also scripted the phenomenally popular “Home Alone,” which made little-known Macaulay Culkin a sensation as the 8-year-old accidentally abandoned by his vacationing family, and wrote or directed such hits as “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Pretty in Pink,” “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” and “Uncle Buck.”

Other actors who got early breaks from Hughes included John Cusack (“Sixteen Candles”), Judd Nelson (“The Breakfast Club”), Steve Carell (“Curly Sue”) and Lili Taylor (“She’s Having a Baby”).

As Hughes advanced into middle age, his commercial touch faded and, in Salinger style, he increasingly withdrew from public life. His last directing credit was in 1991, for “Curly Sue,” and he wrote just a handful of scripts over the past decade. He was rarely interviewed or photographed.

Thank you for sharing your talent and creations. RIP John.

R.I.P.

I didn't know the same man was behind all of those movies. I love so many of them. RIP :(

RIP John :(

Wow, this is truly shocking. I was just thinking about him the other day. This man was a total genius in that he somehow knew what teens of the 80's were thinking and feeling. I still remember being in awe of Molly Ringwald in Sixteen Candles, wondering how the director managed to capture things that I would have said or thought when he didn't even know me!
I was actually hoping that he would write movies for teens of the 80's who are now adults. It would have been interesting to see his POV now that we are all grown up. This is very sad news indeed.

BTW, it says his last directing credit was for "Curly Sue" but didn't he direct the "Home Alone" movies as well?

:rip: to an 80s icon.

You certainly left your mark on the Hollywood industry, Mr. Hughes. Hope you had a great life.

Wow, this is truly shocking. I was just thinking about him the other day. This man was a total genius in that he somehow knew what teens of the 80's were thinking and feeling. I still remember being in awe of Molly Ringwald in Sixteen Candles, wondering how the director managed to capture things that I would have said or thought when he didn't even know me!
I was actually hoping that he would write movies for teens of the 80's who are now adults. It would have been interesting to see his POV now that we are all grown up. This is very sad news indeed.

BTW, it says his last directing credit was for "Curly Sue" but didn't he direct the "Home Alone" movies as well?

He only wrote and produced "Home Alone".

He only wrote and produced "Home Alone".

Okay, thanks. Did he write all three versions or just the original? I loved the second one, but I think that's because it took place in NYC.

Okay, thanks. Did he write all three versions or just the original? I loved the second one, but I think that's because it took place in NYC.
I think it was just the first 2.