British director Hugh Hudsondirector, director chariots of fire (Chariots of fire1981), died today at the age of 86 after suffering a “brief illness,” his family said in a media statement.
Hudson, author of the four-time Academy Award-winning film, died at Charing Cross Hospital in London, the city of his birth, in 1936.
Actor Nigel Havers, one of the stars of chariots of firehe said he was “devastated” by the death of the director, who was married with one child.
Hudson began his career directing documentaries and television commercials before moving into film and finding success with his first feature film, which was nominated for seven Hollywood Academy Awards and won four Academy Awards.
With music by Vangelis
The film, with a screenplay by Colin Welland and a score by Vangelis, is a historical drama centered on the experiences of two runners, Eric Liddell, a Scottish Christian, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew. The film, which tells the story of these two athletes preparing to compete in the 1924 Paris Olympics, was “one of the best experiences of my professional life,” said the actor.
“I, like many others, owe him (Hudson) a huge part of everything that happened after (the movie). I will miss him dearly,” added Havers.
Following that success, Hudson made Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, King of the Apes, 1984), with Christopher Lambert leading the cast, a film that garnered three Academy Award nominations.
After those films, the British director has never managed to make films of equal impact, reaping sensational failures at the box office such as Revolution (Revolution1985), I dreamed of Africa (I dreamed of Africa2000) and The journey home (Homecoming2014).
His latest feature film, Altamira (2016), which dealt with the discovery of the prehistoric caves of the same name in Cantabria, was filmed in Spain and stars Antonio Banderas.
Source: Clarin
