Richard Alfred Marquand was a Welsh film and television director active in both US and UK film productions, best known for directing the 1983 space opera Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy.
13 Facts About Richard Marquand
2.
Richard Marquand directed the 1981 drama film Eye of the Needle, the quiet Paris set romance Until September, and the 1985 thriller Jagged Edge.
3.
Richard Marquand was the son of Rachel E and Hilary Marquand, an economist and Labour MP who served as Minister of Pensions and later Minister of Health under Prime Minister Clement Attlee.
4.
Richard Marquand is the younger brother of David Marquand, who served as a Labour MP.
5.
Richard Marquand collaborated with the celebrated foreign correspondent James Cameron on a long-running series called Cameron Country for BBC television and with John Pilger on a series of films for ITV.
6.
In 1979, Richard Marquand incorporated many of his documentary techniques in his biographical television movie Birth of the Beatles.
7.
Richard Marquand directed several films specifically for children including the 1977 Emmy winning Big Henry and the Polka Dot Kid.
8.
Richard Marquand subsequently directed the 1985 courtroom thriller Jagged Edge, starring Jeff Bridges and Glenn Close.
9.
In 1960, Richard Marquand married screenwriter Josephine Elwyn-Jones, the daughter of Labour MP Elwyn Jones and author and illustrator Pearl Binder.
10.
James Richard Marquand is a film editor who has worked as a director.
11.
In 1981, Richard Marquand married fellow film director Carol Bell, with whom he had another two children, Sam Adair and Molly Joyce.
12.
Richard Marquand reportedly pitched it to Hollywood producers who expressed interest in making it into a film; however, Richard Marquand declined the offer because the producers insisted the story be relocated to the Rocky Mountains in the United States.
13.
On 30 August 1987, Richard Marquand had a stroke at his home in Penshurst.