John Hughes Biography
John Wilden Hughes Jr. (February 18, 1950, to August 6, 2009) was an American filmmaker. he started as an author of humorous essays and stories for National Lampoon.
John went on to write and direct some of the most successful live-action comedy films of the 1980s and 1990s such as National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) and its sequels National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985).
John Hughes Early Life
Hughes was born on February 18, 1950, in Lansing, Michigan, to Marion Crawford, who volunteered in charity work, and John Hughes Sr., who worked in sales. He was the only boy and had three sisters.
He spent the first twelve years of his life in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, where he was a fan of Detroit Red Wings #9 Gordie Howe. Hughes described himself as “kind of quiet” as a kid.
Hughes attended Grove [Middle] School before he attended Glenbrook North High School, which gave him inspiration for the films that made his reputation in later years.
He met Nancy Ludwig, a cheerleader, and his future wife, in high school. As a teenager, Hughes found movies as an escape. According to childhood friend Jackson Peterson, “His mom and dad criticized him a lot She Marion would be critical of what John would want to do”.
John Hughes career
Hughes began selling jokes to well-established performers such as Rodney Dangerfield and Joan Rivers. Hughes used his jokes to get an entry-level job at Needham, Harper & Steers as an advertising copywriter in Chicago in 1970 and later in 1974 at Leo Burnett Worldwide.
During this period, he created what became the famous Edge “Credit Card Shaving Test” ad campaign. Hughes’ work on the Virginia Slims account frequently took him to the Philip Morris headquarters in New York City. He visited the offices of National Lampoon magazine.
Hughes became a contributor; editor P. J. O’Rourke recalled that “John wrote so fast and so well that it was hard for a monthly magazine to keep up with him”.Hughes’s first story, inspired by his family trips as a child, was “Vacation ’58”, later became the basis for the film National Lampoon’s Vacation.
Among his other contributions to the Lampoon, the April Fools’ Day stories “My Penis” and “My Vagina” gave an early indication of Hughes’s ear for the particular rhythm of teenage dialogue as well as for the various indignities of teen life in general.
John Hughes Sixteen Candles
Hughes’s directorial debut, Sixteen Candles, won almost unanimous praise when it was released in 1984 due in no small part to its more honest depiction of upper middle class high school life in stark contrast to the Porky’s-inspired comedies made at the time.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
To avoid being pigeonholed as a maker of teen movies, Hughes branched out in 1987 by directing Planes, Trains, and Automobiles starring Steve Martin and John Candy.
His later output was not so well-received critically, though films like Uncle Buck proved popular. Hughes’s greatest commercial success came with Home Alone;
A film he wrote and produced about a child accidentally left behind when his family goes away for Christmas, forcing him to protect himself and his house from a pair of inept burglars.
John Hughes John Candy
Hughes collaborated with the actor John Candy in a number of movies; most of these were films that Candy starred in and Hughes had written. Candy had a role in National Lampoon’s Vacation, which Hughes had written, and which launched his own career.
Hughes eventually directed Candy in the highly successful Planes, Trains & Automobiles, and Uncle Buck. Candy also appeared in movies such as The Great Outdoors and Home Alone, both of which Hughes had written and produced.
Hughes produced Only the Lonely with Candy in the lead role. The two became close friends. Hughes was considerably shaken by John Candy’s sudden death of a heart attack in 1994.
“He talked a lot about how much he loved Candy — if Candy had lived longer, I think John would have made more films as a director,” says Vince Vaughn, a friend of Hughes.
John Hughes Movies
Sixteen Candles
The Breakfast Club
No Actor: Brian’s dad (uncredited)
European Vacation
Weird Science
Pretty in Pink
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
A man running between cabs (uncredited)
Some Kind of Wonderful
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Also lyricist for “I Can Take Anything”
She’s Having a Baby
The Great Outdoors
Uncle Buck
Christmas Vacation
Home Alone
Career Opportunities
Only the Lonely
Dutch
John Hughes Television Show
At the age of 20, Hughes married Nancy Ludwig in 1970. Together they had two children: John Hughes III (born in 1976) and James Hughes (born in 1979).
Although Michael Weiss and Ben Stein described Hughes as a Reagan Republican, P.J. O’Rourke did not agree.
John Hughes Death
On August 5, 2009, Hughes and Ludwig flew to New York City to visit his newly-born grandson and their son James. James said that Hughes appeared to be in good health that night and that the family had made plans for the next day.
On the morning of August 6, Hughes was taking a walk near his hotel on West 55th Street in Manhattan when he suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead at the age of 59.
Hughes’s funeral was held on August 11 in Chicago; he was buried at Lake Forest Cemetery. He is survived by his wife, his two children, and grandchildren.
John Hughes Net Worth
John Hughes Net Worth: John Hughes was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter who had a net worth of $150 million. The 82nd Academy Awards (2010) included a tribute to Hughes’ work.
A retrospective of clips from Hughes’ films was followed by cast members from several of them, including Molly Ringwald;
Matthew Broderick, Macaulay Culkin, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall, and Jon Cryer, gathering on stage to commemorate the man and his contributions to the film industry.
John Hughes Legacy
The pilot episode of the NBC comedy Community, broadcast on September 17, 2009, was dedicated to Hughes. The episode included several references to The Breakfast Club and ended with a cover of “Don’t You.
The One Tree Hill episode titled “Don’t You Forget About Me”, broadcast on February 1, 2010, ended with a scene similar to the ending scene of Sixteen Candles and included some other references to his movies such as Home Alone.
The 2011 Bob’s Burgers episode Sheesh! Cab, Bob? also paid homage to Sixteen Candles. After Hughes’s death, many of those who knew him commented on the impact Hughes had on them and on the film industry.
Judd Apatow said “Basically, my stuff is just John Hughes films with four-letter words. I feel like a part of my childhood has died. Nobody made me laugh harder or more often than John Hughes.”
Molly Ringwald said, “I was stunned and incredibly sad to hear about the death of John Hughes. He was and will always be such an important part of my life. He will be missed – by me and by everyone that he has touched. My heart and all my thoughts are with his family.
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