RIP John Hughes

(Feb 18, 1950 - August 6, 2009)

Writer/director John Hughes died yesterday from a heart attack while walking in New York City. He was only 59. For much of the 1980s it was not hard to find a successful movie that he was involved in. And many of them were wicked funny. You know them.

1983 Mr Mom (writer)

National Lampoon’s Vacation (writer)

1984 Sixteen Candles (writer/director)

1985 The Breakfast Club (writer/director)

Weird Science (writer/director)

National Lampoon’s European Vacation (writer)

1986 Pretty In Pink (writer)

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (writer/director)

1987 Some Kind of Wonderful (writer)

Planes, Trains & Automobiles (writer/director)

1988 She’s Having a Baby (writer/director)

The Great Outdoors (writer)

1989 Uncle Buck (writer/director)

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (writer)

1990 Home Alone (writer)

He went on to write Home Alone 2 and 3, and wrote several other movies right up through 2001.

Bummer to hear of his passing. Not that I really followed his movies after Home Alone came out (movies such as Curly Sue, Dutch, Dennis the Menace and Baby’s Day Out) just didn’t interest me. But those 1980’s movies he either wrote or directed were great, with some classics, including The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Planes, Trains & Automobiles and Uncle Buck.

A couple of movies he even made uncredited appearances. In The Breakfast Club he appears at the end of the movie as Brian’s father. And in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off he appears as someone who is running between two cabs.

RIP John Hughes.