John Wilden Hughes Jr. February 18, 1950 – August 6, 2009 was an American filmmaker. Beginning as an author of humorous essays and stories for National Lampoon, he went on to write, produce and sometimes 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 and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 1989, Mr. Mom 1983, Sixteen Candles 1984, Weird Science 1985, The Breakfast Club 1985, Ferris Bueller's Day Off 1986, Pretty in Pink 1986, Some Kind of Wonderful 1987, Planes, Trains and Automobiles 1987, She's Having a Baby 1988, Uncle Buck 1989, Dutch 1991, Dennis the Menace 1993, Baby's Day Out 1994, the Beethoven franchise co-written under a pseudonym with Amy Holden-Jones and Home Alone 1990 and its sequels Home Alone Lost in New York 1992 and Home Alone 1997.
Most of Hughes' work is set in the Chicago metropolitan area. He is best known for his coming-of-age teen comedy films which often combined magic realism with honest depictions of suburban teenage life. Many of his most enduring characters from these years were written for Molly Ringwald, who was Hughes' muse.
While out on a walk one morning in New York in the summer of 2009, Hughes suffered a fatal heart attack.His legacy after his death was honored by many, including at the 82nd Academy Awards by actors with whom he had worked such as Matthew Broderick, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall and Macaulay Culkin among others.Actors whose careers Hughes helped launch include Michael Keaton, Hall, Bill Paxton, Broderick, Culkin and members of the Brat Pack group.
He was a good filmmaker....