Few actors have lead such a charmed life as Richard Attenborough. His career started quickly, and over sixty years has trundled on from one success to another. Of course, there have been plenty of flops in those sixty years; but none of them have derailed his career. He's even turned successfully to directing, as his Oscar for Ghandi shows.
He was born in Cambridge and grew up in Leicester where his father was head of the local college. He was bitten by the acting bug fairly early and went to RADA on a scholarship. After a couple of small roles in films he hit the big time with the stage adaptation of Brighton Rock (which did co-star Dulcie Gray no harm either).
His war service was spent in the RAF, mostly in their film unit. There he took the lead role in Journey Together. While in the RAF he found time to marry his fellow RADA student Sheila Sim.
On demob, he took up his career where he left it. After a few more cameo roles, he became a star with the film version of Brighton Rock. From that point on there was a steady procession of cowardly spivs and war heroes, with a couple of years in the original production of The Mousetrap to leaven the mix.
As the sixties opened he moved into production and from there into directing. His years of trying to get a biopic of Ghandi off the ground finally paid off, and it's probable that it's this he'll be best remembered for.
| 1942 | In Which We Serve |
| 1942 | Schweik's New Adventures |
| 1943 | The Hundred Pound Window |
| 1943 | Journey Together |
| 1946 | A Matter of Life and Death |
| 1946 | School for Secrets |
| 1947 | The Man Within |
| 1947 | Dancing With Crime |
| 1947 | Brighton Rock |
| 1948 | London Belongs to Me |
| 1949 | The Guinea Pig |
| 1950 | The Lost People |
| 1950 | Boys in Brown |
| 1950 | Morning Departure |
| 1951 | Hell is Sold Out |
| 1951 | The Magic Box |
| 1952 | The Gift Horse |
| 1953 | Father's Doing Fine |
| 1954 | Eight O'Clock Walk |
| 1954 | The Ship that Died of Shame |
| 1955 | Private's Progress |
| 1956 | The Baby and the Battleship |
| 1956 | Brothers in Law |
| 1958 | The Scamp |
| 1958 | Dunkirk |
| 1958 | The Man Upstairs |
| 1958 | Danger Within |
| 1958 | I'm All Right Jack |
| 1958 | Sea of Sand |
| 1959 | Jetstorm |
| 1959 | SOS Pacific |
| 1960 | The Angry Silence (+ prod) |
| 1960 | The League of Gentlemen (+ prod) |
| 1962 | Only Two Can Play |
| 1962 | Whistle Down the Wind (prod only) |
| 1962 | The Dock Brief |
| 1962 | All Night Long |
| 1963 | The Great Escape (US) |
| 1964 | Seance on a Wet Afternoon (+ prod) |
| 1964 | The Third Secret |
| 1964 | The Guns at Batasi |
| 1965 | The Flight of the Phoenix (US) |
| 1966 | The Sand Pebbles (US) |
| 1967 | Doctor Dolittle |
| 1968 | The Bliss of Mrs Blossom |
| 1968 | The Last Grenade |
| 1968 | Only When I Larf |
| 1969 | Oh What a Lovely War (prod and dir only) |
| 1969 | David Copperfield |
| 1970 | The Magic Christian |
| 1970 | The Severed Head |
| 1971 | Loot |
| 1971 | 10 Rillington Place |
| 1972 | Young Winston (dir only) |
| 1975 | Conduct Unbecoming |
| 1975 | Rosebud |
| 1975 | Brannigan |
| 1975 | And Then There Were None |
| 1977 | A Bridge Too Far (dir only) |
| 1978 | The Chess Players (Ind.) |
| 1978 | Magic (dir only) |
| 1979 | The Human Factor |
| 1982 | Ghandi (prod, dir only) |
| 1985 | A Chorus Line (dir only) |
| 1987 | Cry Freedom (dir only) |
| 1992 | Charlie (dir only) |
| 1993 | Shadowlands (prod and dir only) |
| 1993 | Jurassic Park |
| 1994 | Miracle on 34th Street (US) |
| 1996 | Hamlet |
| 1996 | In Love and War (prod and dir only) |
| 1996 | e=mc2 |
| 1997 | Lost World: Jurassic Park |
| 1998 | Elizabeth |
| 1999 | Grey Owl (prod and dir only) |
| 2002 | Puckoon |
Richard Attenborough at Amazon UK
Richard Attenborough at Amazon US
