Robert marquand biography

Richard Marquand

Welsh film director (–)

Richard Marquand

Born	Richard Alfred Marquand ()22 September Cardiff, Wales
Died	4 September () (aged&#;49) Royal Tunbridge Wells, England
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California, U.S
Occupation(s)	Film and television director
Spouses	Josephine Elwyn-Jones &#; &#; (m.&#;; div.&#;)&#; Carol Bell &#; (m.&#;)&#;
Children	4, including James
Parent	Hilary Marquand (father)
Relatives	David Marquand (brother)

Richard Alfred Marquand (22 September – 4 September ) was a Welsh film and television director active in both US and UK film productions,^[1] best known for directing the space operaReturn of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy.

He also directed the drama production Eye of the Needle, the quiet Paris set romance Until September, and the thriller Jagged Edge.

All All. Sign In. Richard Alfred Marquand. He was married to Carol Bell and Josephine Marquand.

Early life

Marquand was born in Llanishen, Cardiff, Wales. He was the son of Rachel E. (née Rees) and Hilary Marquand, an economist and Labour MP who served as Minister of Pensions and later Minister of Health under Prime Minister Clement Attlee.

He is the younger brother of David Marquand, who also served as a Labour MP.

Marquand was educated at Emanuel School, London, the University of Aix-Marseille in France and King's College, Cambridge, where he studied modern languages, and where one of his tutors was E.

M. Forster. During National Service he studied Mandarin and was posted to Hong Kong where he also read the news on the English language Hong Kong Television^{[citation needed]}.

Career

By late , Marquand had begun a career directing television documentaries for the BBC, where he worked on projects such as the series Search for the Nile^[2] and an edition of One Pair of Eyes (),^[3] about the novelist Margaret Drabble who had been a friend of his at Cambridge.^[4] He collaborated with the celebrated foreign correspondent James Cameron on a long-running series called Cameron Country for BBC television and also with John Pilger on a series of films for ITV.

In , Marquand incorporated many of his documentary techniques in his biographical television movie Birth of the Beatles.

Unheralded save for a accompanying through this newspaper and some readers of The New Yorker magazine, her career spanned 70 years, three continents, and seven published works. Readers were attracted to her lyrical spontaneity, keen eye, and insight into many cultures and peoples. But what held them was the tough-minded realism and hard-won conviction of the New Testament spiritual vision that lay just beneath the lines of her verse. Her poems got clipped, copied, frayed - passed to many hands as a shared currency of the heart.

He directed several films specifically for children including the Emmy winning Big Henry and the Polka Dot Kid.

On the strength of his direction of the feature, Eye of the Needle, Marquand was hired by writer-producer George Lucas to direct Return of the Jedi.^[5] In his commentary path on the DVD, Lucas explains that Marquand "had done some great suspense films and was really good with actors.

Eye of the Needle was the film I'd seen that he had done that impressed me the most, it was really nicely done and had a lot of energy and suspense."^{[citation needed]} For his work on the film, Marquand won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in ^[6]

Marquand subsequently directed the courtroom thriller Jagged Edge, starring Jeff Bridges and Glenn Close.

Personal life and death

In , Marquand married screenwriter Josephine Elwyn-Jones, the daughter of Labour MP Elwyn Jones and writer and illustrator Pearl Binder. They had two children, Hannah Rachel and James Elwyn, before they divorced in James Marquand is a film editor who has also worked as a director.

In , Marquand married fellow film director Carol Bell, with whom he had another two children, Sam Adair and Molly Joyce.

Richard Alfred Marquand 22 September — 4 September was a Welsh film and television director active in both US and UK film productions, [ 1 ] best known for directing the space opera Come back of the Jedithe final production in the original Star Wars trilogy. He also directed the drama film Eye of the Needlethe quiet Paris set intimacy Until Septemberand the thriller Jagged Edge. Marquand was born in LlanishenCardiffWales. He was the son of Rachel E.

Marquand was a fan of Liverpool Football Club.^[2]

According to a Wales Online interview with his son James, Marquand wrote a screenplay for "a Welsh western" in the late s at the South Wales branch of Pinewood Studios.

The screenplay told the story of a young orphan miss in VictorianMid Wales who enlists two local men to aid her wreak revenge on those who killed her father; Marquand used to tell the story to his children when they were on holiday at the family's cottage near Tregaron.

Marquand reportedly pitched it to Hollywood producers who expressed interest in making it into a film; however, Marquand declined the extend because the producers insisted the story be relocated to the Rocky Mountains in the Joined States. In the interview, James Marquand expressed interest in adapting his father's screenplay into a film.^[7]

On 30 August , Marquand had a stroke at his home in Penshurst.^[8] He was taken to Kent and Sussex Hospital in Royal Tunbridge Wells, where he died five days later, on 4 September, at the age of ^[2] His last film, Hearts of Fire, starring Bob Dylan, was released posthumously.^[8]

Filmography

Short film

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer
	The Puritan Experience: Making of a Brand-new World	Yes	Yes	Yes
	The Puritan Experience: Forsaking England	Yes	Yes	No

Feature film

Director

Story writer

Television

Miniseries

Year	Title	Notes
	This Nation Tomorrow	3 episodes
	Inside America	4 episodes
	Inside Ireland	2 episodes
	Women, Women, Women	2 episodes
	Inside Australia	Director (4 episodes) / Narrator (12 episodes)
	The Seek for the Nile	2 episodes

TV movies

Title	Director	Producer	Notes
Home for Heroes?	Yes	Yes
Birmingham '64	No	Yes
Edward II	Yes	No	Associate director under Toby Robertson

TV series

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
–70	Cameron Country	Yes	Yes	No	Director (8 episodes) / Producer (episode ''Nobody Ever Asks Why'')
	NBC Special Treat	Yes	No	Yes	Director (2 episodes) / Penner (episode ''Luke Was There'')

Documentary works