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What a shocker. It was a sudden death, of a heart attack while he was taking a walk in NYC. He was 59. The writer/director/producer will be remembered for his unique ability to speak to kids, tweens, teens and young adults with movies that became instant pop culture classics with such seminal films like Home Alone, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Though the busy filmmaker's career had gone quiet in recent years, his films shaped the 1980s and 1990s and early 2000s in a way few in Hollywood can claim. He leaves behind a rich legacy.
R.I.P. John Hughes
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Damn. I loved the guys films. He had the common touch, rare in Hollywood. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was a great film.
A GREAT writer and director that defined many of our childhoods. I wish I could have handed him my sunglasses and said “For better hallway vision.”
“Just doing some work, completely rewiring the whole house.”
“You gonna do it 220?”
“Yeah, I’m gonna do it 220, 221.”
—————–
“Beer?”
“It’s seven o’clock in the morning.”
“Scotch?”
i can’t imagine growing up without his movies. they are as great today as when they came out! so sad…
Very sad. Some of my favorite movie moments came from John Hughes. RIP Mr. Hughes. You will be missed.
I wouldn’t be in this business if it wasn’t for him.
drag. what a drag. we’ll miss you!
Why did he ever retire he should have stayed active. For some reason he decided to leave showbiz that’s the real tragedy, think how many other great movies he could have made. Very sad he’s gone but audiences lost his magic touch long ago. I really wish he had kept making movies.
What in the world is going on? John Hughes too!!! It was his movies that made me what to work in Hollywood. C’mon now with these deaths. I CAN’T TAKE IT!
Oh, shit. that is horrible news. what a joy the man’s work was. breakfast club could be re-released right now and still work just as well. i can’t think of enough ways to say how bad this news sucks.
“stupid. worthless. no good god damn free-loading son-of-a-bitch. retarded, big-mouthed asshole jerk!”
“you forgot, ugly, lazy and disrespectful–”
“shut up, bitch. go fix me a turkey pot pie.”
defined a genre. rip, jh.
Brilliant artist. Awful man. Nobody in the industry liked him. Let’s not make him a saint.
that’s too bad that he died. they didn’t mention it here, but I’m pretty sure that he either wrote or directed the film version of “Dennis the Menace” years ago. I’ve seen this several times, it’s pretty funny. and that one has the late, great Walter Matthau in it as “Mr. Wilson”.
“I do have a test today that wasn’t total bullshit. It’s on European Socialism. I mean really, what’s the point? I’m not European. I don’t plan on being European. So who gives a crap that they’re Socialists? They could be fascist anarchists, it still doesn’t change the fact that I don’t own a car.” Ferris Bueller
“Donger’s here for five hours and he’s got somebody. I live here my whole life, and I’m like a disease.” Samantha
“A person should not believe in an “ism”. A person should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon ‘I don’t believe in Beatles, I just believe in me.” Ferris
Neal: Where’s your other hand?
Del: Between two pillows.
Neal: Those aren’t pillows!
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
“Life goes by fast. If you don’t stop and look around every once and a while you might miss it.” Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
“My brother paid a dollar last night to see your underpants.” Sixteen Candles
Could go on forever. The man had a gift.
Like Dave above, there is simply no chance I would have ended up working in movies if it weren’t for John Hughes. The name on my first fake ID was John Bender. He not only defined my teenage years, he defined them as meaningful, even wonderful. he made an entire generation of adolescents feel like they were not alone. His films had heart and humor and life. hollywood’s soul just died a little more.
Hughes’ teen comedies especially made his characters people instead of cheap excuses for gags. And that simple act of not talking down to the teenage audience made a connection to 80s kids like myself.
This is a shocker, and he will be missed.
His legacy lives through his movies.
RIP John Hughes.
Ferris Bueller could be released today, and it would be a monster hit, with audiences and with critics.
When you can say that about a film, then the film—and the filmmaker—have managed to transcend.
John Hughes will be missed.
@ calvisi-
nice! I didn’t realize he wrote Mr. Mom too…
truly one of the greats….
“You know your talking like that just because I’m going out with Blane.”
“His name is Blane? Oh! That’s a major appliance, that’s not a name!”
++++++++
“Where the hell am I?”
“I’ll, uh, tell you where you are if you tell me who you are.”
“I’m Farmer Ted.”
“You’re in the parking lot in front of my church.”
“You own a church?”
JH you will be missed….
A great writer/director who made invaluable contributions to entertainment and the world- he brought many laughs and was a true pioneer in the four quadrant comedy. He will be missed.
@ calvisi-
nice! I didn’t realize he wrote Mr. Mom too…
truly one of the greats….
“You know your talking like that just because I’m going out with Blane.”
“His name is Blane? Oh! That’s a major appliance, that’s not a name!”
++++++++
“Where the hell am I?”
“I’ll, uh, tell you where you are if you tell me who you are.”
“I’m Farmer Ted.”
“You’re in the parking lot in front of my church.”
“You own a church?”
JH you will be missed….
Go put his movies in your DVD player and compare his work to the pure remade garbage slopping out of Hollywood today. John Hughes deserves our respect for the amazing work he gave us, but also for knowing when the well was dry. I hope he had a great “retirement” and thank him for the many hours — actually days — of laughter he gave me.
PS He probably went quickly. What more can you ask for?
I feel SO fortunate to have been able to grow up with his movies. They were touchstones for our generation in a way that hasn’t been replicated. What do the kids of today have? Miley? Zac Efron? Their films will not stand the test of time like his did.
Fuck. The man is THE reason I got into this business. Sometimes I’ll ask myself why I am in this business dealing with the idiots everyday. The answer is always the same: John Hughes movies and the way they affected me when I was growing up. To say his movies entertained would be an understatement. They made us laugh and laugh hard. His are some of the most quoted movies of all time. I wouldn’t be able to keep track of how many times I dropped a line from a John Hughes movie during the course of a year. I would even go as far to say he helped define some of us as people.
So many could identify with at least one of his characters in all those great films.
Jake or The Geek
Rusty or Cousin Dale
Clark Griswold or Cousin Eddie
Ferris and Sloane and Cameron
Brian Johnson or John Bender
Claire or Allison
Gary or Wyatt or Chet
Amanda Jones or Watts
Kevin McCallister ..
Casting in his films was exquisite.
The man will be missed.
A shocker indeed! R.I.P. John Hughes.
Great filmmaker. Films had heart and were funny without being a frat gross out festival.
“I knew John Hughes, and Mr. Apatow, you are no John Hughes”
As a child of ’80s I owe John Hughes a huge debt of gratitude for making wonderful films that were in many ways time capsules of a very special time in my life. I’ll be able to watch his films when I’m old and gray and remember what it was like to be a kid. Rest in peace, John. We will miss you.
His era ended a long time ago, but that’s more to our detriment than his. It’s too bad that either studios or audiences don’t have an appetite for that kind of filmmaking today–what I now think of as the pre-snark era. The 80s really were the last great stretch for comedy. Sad. We’ll miss you, John.
I can’t bear the idea of living in a world without John Hughes. He wrote the screenplay for my favorite movie of all time, National Lampoon’s Vacation, and for that I will always be grateful.
“The moose says you’re closed…I say you’re open!”
Brilliant man. God bless him.
So sad. John Hughes was a rare talent. I want to be the writer / director that he was. I grew up on his films. I still can recite Breakfast Club line by line.
I’m trying to refrain from crying while typing this.
For democracy’s sake, a dissenting voice: his films were puerile and facile, at best. That’s why teens liked them — you could check your brain at the door and just “feel.” Junk, and he knew it. That’s why he quit. You’re forgetting the critics pegged him early.
Compare his TV-ready pap with the films Hollywood routinely produced a decade before — challenging, thought-provoking films from directors who actually wanted to stretch. This guy…the Hallmark card of screenwriters/directors.
He also wrote Vacation, a treasured staple while growing up and still one of my all-time favorite comedies.
“Can I wash your back?”
“I’ve already done my back.”
“Can I do your front.”
“Go do your own front.”
Always thought it was interesting how after his phenomenal run in the 80s, he basically left the biz.
My all time favorite has been the Breakfast Club. I watched it again and to me it’s one of his best films.Seeing this time from being in front of the movie camera,I can see how he used this ensemble cast. After the 80s he disappeared. But regardless I’m going to miss him.
Go put his movies in your DVD player and compare his work to the pure remade garbage slopping out of Hollywood today.
Come on. He wrote some fine movies but some horrible Hollywood shit as well. Was anything worse than Home Alone 2 (and talk about remade? It was the same movie as Home Alone but not funny and not cute and just horrid)?
Pluto Nash, nice insight you have about John Hughes.
YOU ARE A MORON. I visited his sets as a kid. THE WORLD LOVED HIM. His crew loved him. His cast loved him. I think I even met him as a grown up TV exec at Disney in the 90’s. Legendary.
What do you do Pluto, work at a network? NBC????
Thank you John Hughes for being who you were. Without you, I would have been a lawyer.
“What would you do?”
“SHOWER WITH THEM.”
How could I forget WEIRD SCIENCE?! I must have watched this 30 times in high school.
The TEMPLATE for the high school “geeks get the girl” movie (except it was funny from start to finish).
Bill Paxton as Chet. ‘Nuff said.
I was a big Molly Ringwald and John Candy fan in the ’80s which made me a big fan of writer/director John Hughes. I also loved Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and still watch it even today. In fact, when I moved to L.A. 2 years ago, I was riding done San Vincente and Jeffrey Jones (Edward Rooney) was driving in the car next to me. He looked grumpy and he was hunched over the steering wheel just as he did in the movie. He glanced my way and our eyes connected for a moment as bits of dialogue and scenes from Ferris Bueller just flashed back at me in a surreal way. This must happen to Jones regularly because he just smiled and drove off. Priceless.
John Hughes genius was the right blend of comedy and angst (mostly the teenage variety). His movies defined an era and made me want to make movies. He will really be missed and my prayers and sympathies go out to his family. R.I.P.
1 of the best dialogue writers, crackling w/ flow & snap; almost up there w/ Hawks or Brooks.
This is indeed sad.
Thank you, Mr Hughes. You may not have tapped into my particular teen angst, but it was close enough for some laughs & much needed heartfelt enjoyment.
1 of the funniest monologues EVER–
I’m Buck Melanoma. Moley Russell’s wart. Not her wart. Not her wart! I’m… I’m the wart. She’s my tumor. My… my growth. My… uh, my pimple. I’m Uncle Wart. Just old Buck “Wart” Russell. That’s what they call me, or Melanoma Head. They’ll call me that. “Melanoma Head’s coming.” I’m s… uncle! Maisy Russell’s uncle!
“Those aren’t pillows.”
RIP
John — yes, I’ll go ahead and call him John — was arguably the only filmmaker to ever connect so deeply with a generation, with such commitment and dedication. I will always love and treasure much of his work. I consider many of his films old friends: Vacation; Sixteen Candles; Trains, Planes & Automobiles; Breakfast Club; Ferris Bueller’s Day Off; Mr. Mom; Pretty in Pink; Some Kind of Wonderful; Uncle Buck; She’s Having a Baby…damn, I’m gettin’ misty eyed just thinking about ‘em.
PLUTO-WRONG-I WORKED FOR JH AND WAS PRES OF HIS COMPANY-I LIKED HIM A GREAT DEAL AND WAS FORTUNATE TO LEARN FROM HIM-HE WAS A MASTER-HE WANTED YOU TO TELL HIM THE TRUTH-IF YOU DIDNT-HE WAS VERY TOUGH-IF YOU GAVE HIM 100%-YOU GOT HIS RESPECT-SO-NASH-YOU BASICALLY DONT KNOW WHAT THE F*** YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT-ALAN RICHE
Let it not be forgotten that in addition to his film work, John Hughes was a brilliant writer for the National Lampoon, maybe its funniest ever, and contributed many of its best pieces during that once-great humor magazine’s second wind, 1977-1980.
In fact, “Vacation” the movie was first “Vacation ‘58″ the magazine article, and for my money — and this is coming from someone who enjoyed the film version very much — the magazine article was better.
I think it’s a shame that these wonderful sentiments only come out after the man has passed and is unable to read them.
So many people (myself included) got into this business wanting to BE John Hughes, and yet none of the imitators have even gotten close.
To think the guy never got nominated for a single Oscar, and now they’re going to give out nominations by the dozen.
Before there was an “Edward”, there was a “Jake”.
RIP
She’s having a Baby is criminally underrated. And anyone who says he wrote ‘teen flicks with no brains’ should just watch Planes, Trains and Automobiles. A very talented writer.
So sad…
He found a way to tell interesting stories about suburban Chicago teen life. Growing up in the city of Chicago I had no idea what it must have been like to be from a wealthy suburb, not even close. It was like Mars to me. But watching his movies gave me a little glimpse of it, and I realized it wasn’t much different from what I knew. There where still the same internal problems us teens had to deal with that they did in the ‘burbs. (I know it’s a movie but it was very real). Maybe we had more crime we had to deal with, but kids are kids.(Bender would have gotten the crap kick out of him the first day)
Hughes helped show me that.
RIP big guy.
John Hughes, along with other comedy directors of the era such as Harold Ramis, John Landis, and Ivan Reitman, made the best comedy films ever. Why do the studios continue to hire first-timer video directors, short film directors, or all these other hacks that they perceive as “hot”. If they’d trust these REAL filmmakers with the good material, so many of these mediocre films would be far far better. Like what the hell were they thinking giving Brad Silberling “Land of the Lost”, or the first-timer who did “Fired Up”, and the list goes on and on. WAKE THE HELL UP STUDIO EXECS AND HAVE SOME BALLS.
What a bummer of a day. I feel like Del Griffith sitting at the train station at the end of PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES.
Great soundtracks, too.
The world lossed it’s innocence the day John Hughes stopped directing movies. I had the honor of being in Vacation with Chevy Chase, John’s screenplay with the first and only cuss word in his entire career. It was the best day of my life to be John Hughes’ PIMP in Vacation. “FUCK Yo’ MOMMA!”
I know why he quit — tired of dealing with a bunch of know-nothing street-fighters who were more interested in the ‘deal’ than the product. He did more to put Chicago production on the map than anyone else in history. Clash of values, clash of lifestyle. Why keep fighting when the system just wants to use you and spit you out? He was a great filmmaker. You can quote from his films, which you cannot do with anyone today. He’s an auter, whether you like it or not. The man’s intellectual property generated over a BILLION dollars in revenue, split between a number of majors for over a decade. I’m glad he walked, he was done with all you bastards.
Abe Frohman. Sausage King of Chicago.
My heart goes out to his family tonight.
I had a great time growing up and watching so many of his movies. My sisters and I would rent Some Kind of Wonderful over and over again from the video store. We never got tired of watching Keith and Watts finally get together in the end.
Some of the my most memorable quotes from Pretty in Pink:
Iona: Does he have… strong lips?
Andie: How can you tell?
Iona: Did you feel it in your knees?
Andie: I felt it everywhere.
Iona: Strong lips.
[laughs]
Iona: I know I’m old enough to be his mother, but when the Duck laid that kiss on me last night, I swear my thighs just went up in flames! He must practice on melons or something.
Steff: C’mon, I’m talking about more than just sex here.
Andie: No you’re not.
Steff: You know, I’ve been out with a lot of girls at this school. I don’t see what makes you so different.
Andie: Well, I have taste.
Steff: [puts cigarette in mouth] You’re a bitch.
Duckie: Who is he?
Andy: Blane
Ducky: “(mimicks the name slowly)BLANE..that’s not a name that’s a major appliance not a name
Andie’s friend: I hope they shrivel up and fall off!
Miss Deeds:You hope what shrivels up and falls off?
Andie’s friend: Her breasts, miss deeds!
Blonde girl: You’re a bitch!
Andie: raises her eyebrows
Blonde girl: I don’t even want to know what you are!
Delona “Applause! applause! applause!(she smiles at the ceiling) should I be a bitch or a whore?”
Duckie: Do you know what an older woman does for me?
Delona: Changes your diaper
For more brillant Pretty in Pink moments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkE6SGwuoP8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS_mP-Z4EFI&feature=related
Preston Sturges was the top comedy writer-director of
the 1940s. John Hughes was the top comedy writer-director of the 1980s. Both men’s careers went into decline after 10 years. Struges died at 61. Hughes died at 59. Sturges died in 1959. Fifty years ago.
Hughes died today. The same day Sturges did.
I agree with Jackie, his movies weren’t much to write home about, but it is always sad when someone passes.
Good call, “Writer Bob.” Hughes’ short fiction for national Lampoon was the shit. “My Vagina” is just as startling and funny as it was back in the day. “A Boy’s Life” was also an amazing, unnerving dry run for both “Fight Club” and “Home Alone.”
Some of these stories are pirated on-line, totally worth reading right now. I don’t know who holds the rights to these properties, but a Hughes short fiction collection would be amazing.
Mr. Riche, thanks for setting the record straight. As a man who worked directly with Mr. Hughes and has nothing but respect and admiration for his body of work, I greatly appreciate your time in writing and sharing your views.
This is such a loss.
I graduated from high school in 1984. Mr. Hughes movies were the motion pictures and soundtracks of our lives. Quite literally he captured that time so well. Yet, his movies will certainly also speak to future generations and seem relevant.
He was the first film maker that I recall to use contemporary music that added such a huge dimension to his films. almost as if the music/songs were an additional actor in the scenes. Another Chicago film maker, John Cusack, does the same in his movies too, using amazing songs and artists to add dimension and layers to a movie.
Mr. Hughes’s movie making included multi-dimensional characters, amazingly written scenes of dialog, composition of shots with inventive camera angles, and his ability to get the very best from his actors was always part of his amszing talent. Just some aspects of what made him so great and the reasons why I can watch his movies over and over and over again (even when they are on tv with commercials.)
I am saddened today and feel as though a bit of my childhood/”teenagehood” has died. I think that in mourning the loss of this great movie maker I will commit to trying to watch every single one of his movies before December. And appropriately, as with every Thanksgiving as tradition has become, I’ll end with watching Planes, Trains and Automobiles over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
In the end I felt his movie’s messages were to honor, value and appreciate friendship, family. laughter and life. Certainly with his loss at such an early age, we can honor him by appreciating those around us and the more simple things in life that he seemed to want us to pay attention to.
Thanks, Mr. Hughes. Really, thanks for your creativity and commitment to making us laugh.
Right on ALAN RICHE, Pluto Nash is an idiot. When I worked in TV development at Diseny for 4 years, I would bump into him on the lot. Always a great guy…..
RIP JOHN HUGHES…..
I’m very sad. The work of Hughes was part of my youth.
I probably won’t say anything that hasn’t already been said, but being a fan I wanted to add my 2 cents if he’s checking out his laptop while waiting on line to get into the pearly gates…
His movies really did hit it on the head when you were coming of age, and even though they’re very eighties, what’s at the core of them still holds up.
Non-teenage wise, saw Planes Trains and Automobiles recently, still holds up, still hilarious, and still too close to home for anybody who has to travel a lot (my father went through practically EVERYTHING in that movie).
Some of my personal favorite moments include much of Ferris, especially Ed Rooney and Cameron, the scene where the car flies over the camera to the Star Wars theme was a riot, and Steve and John trying to change the subject after “Those aren’t pillows…” “Gonna take it all the way!”
We’ve missed you for a long time John, now we miss you even more. Rest In Peace.
Along with Harold Ramis, the best comedy writer of his generation.
RIP.
Total shock. He will be dearly missed.
I’m reading all these quotes and laughing
my ass off…
very sad news, and far too young. Also a more subversive film-maker than he’s often given credit for:
http://jwakeham.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/r-i-p-john-hughes/
John Hughes was very very good man. Please read this story and you’ll understand why I say this. It had me in tears. He had a penpal. This is her story.
http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html
PERSONAL POST
John Hughes, RIP
thanks for the memories.
for those times when I was going thru a stressful time and then I bumped into one of your flicks, either at the vid store or on tv. thank you very much.
GENERAL POST
What this creative artist could do, with nt alot of funds, was beautiful to behold. In Breakfest Club (BC), he literaly makes the HS library the center of the universe for many viewers.
…he literaly makes the HS library (with that AWFUL MODERN SCUPLTURE. you know…the ones that cost tons of public funds & that EVERYONE KNOWS are dog-ugly..)
My most cherished funny-fun BC scene is the dance sequence(s). Just hysterical. I once watched that over and over to keep laughing.
For seriousness, the group therapy during/post buzz scene is incredibly heartfelt.
..AND YES, he had the best soundtracks. I believe BC opens with a quote from Bowie’s Changes. Just simply perfect:
“And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They’re quite aware of what they’re going through…”
…the same could be said, by way of analogy, for why so many of us enjoyed the work of Mr. Hughes, we are “quite aware of what they’re going through..”
damn I am getting nostalgic…and choked up….
cheers & mercy.
RIP John Hughs – thank you for raising the bar on the hooky day, turning the horror of being 16 into something more endurable, giving us a laugh at headgear (which historically was not funny), the endearingly awkward Duckman, and making it okay to be an oddball. Gotta go, Barry Manillow wants his wardrobe back…
And just as the music played out at the end of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles…”Everytime you go, you take a piece of me with you…”
You will be missed, but your work will endure.
This might answer some questions as to why Hughes left the biz:
http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html
John Hughes’ correspondence with teenage fan Alison chronicled here:
Sincerely, John Hughes
If their years-long correspondence is any indication, Hughes was a good guy.
One particularly interesting remark:
(h/t: Alex Belth, Bronx Banter blog)
“Bueller…Bueller…”
As someone who worked (BTL) on a few of his movies, John could be quite difficult, but who cares? He wrote some brilliant movies. I thought he directed merely to protect his scripts but if you just take Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, FB Day Off and PTA….those alone make for a helluva legacy.
Ferris: “You speak English?”
car park guy: “Well, just what country do you think this is?”
shortly after, car park guy: “Relax…I’m a professional.”
two of my favorite moments from FBDO, and they come pretty much back to back. subtle, great acting as well.
God Bless you John. Thanks for all the great movies!
I wish Hughes had direted PRETTY IN PINK. I read the script when I temped for ICM back in the 80s and loved it. The movie was good, but the script was great.
I always thought SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL was just a retread of PINK, with the genders switched. Think about it.
Both were directed by Howard Deutch.
god bless you john
I have watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles so many times I lost count. Del Griffith…was there ever a more likeable film character ? What perfect touch to create that character and script and deliver it to the audience in such a memorable way. John Candy and John Hughes…together again.
RIP John Hughes. Thank you for such great films.
I enjoyed, and now my children enjoy, your films.
You made the 80’s bearable for young people like me who felt so out of place, weird, and never understood for our geeky, yet quirky lives…
Thanks again. Peace.
Phil Dale Duckie and Alan Riche,
I got your back, correction — PLUTO NASH IS A FUCKING MORON!
In a town — populated by hopped up sociopaths who’d pimp their club-footed daughters to aliens in order to be successful — how in the hell do you define “awful man” within the context of Hollywood? That’s like Flava Flav calling Shaneequa, ghetto. The fuck outta here.
Mr. Riche hit the nail on the head — Mr. Hughes didn’t pack his gonads away when he left home to go to work. That was his original sin — he was man in a business where you’re supposed to be granted license to have nuts, by the “powers that be”. For my money, you can take that notion, stick it in an alligator’s ass and tell that badboy to find some deep water. I’m with Mr. Hughes — I ain’t havin’ it!
As a black teen growing up in Chitown, I remember seeing The Breakfast Club and thinking about how I’d love to make a movie that affected my molecular structure the way that film did. I was a working-class kid who had wealthy white friends — many of whom lived in those suburbs chronicled in Hughes’ films.
A lot has been made about how “white” his movies were. I could care less. The man’s films had heart. That is a quality that transcends color and all that other bullshit that we as humans spend far too much time on. His movies made me feel.
To this day, hearing Simple Minds’ ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ transports me back to that high school library, on that Saturday morning, hanging with all those “misfits” trying to figure it out — whatever “it” was. As a black boy who thought he’d die a violent death before the age of eighteen I knew what it was like to be an outsider. However, I chose not to let others’ perception of me define the core of who I was as a human being. Just like all those characters in the films of Mr. Hughes.
Rest In Peace, My Brother. You will not be forgotten.
T.E. Russell
A million currently working Hollywood hacks dream for the success of one John Hughes written or directed film. His legacy speaks for itself. The fact that he took the time out of his life or even the thought to be penpals with a single teen fan out of what must literally have been thousands or millions of requests, shows a kind of care rarely heard of in this cutthroat biz. It’s reassuring and heartwarming to know, as were so many of his films. An overlooked gem he wrote is Just Visiting.
An amazing talent! Hope the indie ‘Jelly’ is recognized as a true hat tip to an old soul who knew how to express life, love and everything in between. JH was the pledge, the turn AND the prestige, with all the attendant pleasure borne from viewing and enjoying a gem of a true magician.
Http://www.jellythemovie.com
TE Russell echos my sentiments precisely.
You could enjoy JH movies no matter who you were.
I loved (still do) Pretty in Pink, Weird Science and Sixteen Candles…. Never occurred to me that being a black chick, it was supposed to limit my enjoyment..
I’m glad it never did….
All thoughts to his family at this time….
I was a teenager when I visited the set of “Breakfast Club”—-the plywood library was erected inside a high school gym—-and John Hughes showed me how you light the tip of your boot on fire like Bender. He cared. RIP.