Richard Marquand

Richard Alfred Marquand (22 September 1937 – 4 September 1987) was a British film and television director active in both US and UK film productions,[1] best known for directing the 1983 space opera Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy. He also directed the critically acclaimed 1981 drama film Eye of the Needle, the quiet Paris set romance Until September, and the hit 1985 thriller Jagged Edge.

Richard Marquand
Born
Richard Alfred Marquand

(1937-09-22)22 September 1937
Llanishen, Cardiff, Wales
Died4 September 1987(1987-09-04) (aged 49)
Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England
Occupation(s)Film and television director
Spouses
    Josephine Elwyn-Jones
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1960; div. 1970)​
      Carol Bell
      ​
      (m. 1981)​
      Children4, including James
      ParentHilary Marquand (father)
      RelativesDavid Marquand (brother)

      Early life

      Marquand was born in Llanishen, Cardiff, Wales. He was the son of Rachel E. (née Rees) and Hilary Marquand, an economist and Labour MP who served as Minister of Pensions and later Minister of Health under Prime Minister Clement Attlee.[2] He is the younger brother of David Marquand, who also served as a Labour MP.

      Marquand was educated at Emanuel School, London, the University of Aix-Marseille in France and King's College, Cambridge, where he read modern languages, and where one of his tutors was E. M. Forster. During National Service he studied Mandarin and was posted to Hong Kong where he also read the news on the English language Hong Kong Television.

      Career

      By the late 1960s, Marquand had begun a career directing television documentaries for the BBC, where he worked on projects such as the 1972 series Search for the Nile[3] and an edition of One Pair of Eyes (1968),[4] about the novelist Margaret Drabble who had been a friend of his at Cambridge.[5] He collaborated with the celebrated foreign correspondent James Cameron on a long-running series called Cameron Country for BBC television and also with John Pilger on a series of films for ITV. In 1979, Marquand incorporated many of his documentary techniques in his biographical television movie Birth of the Beatles. He directed several films specifically for children including the 1977 Emmy winning Big Henry and the Polka Dot Kid.

      On the strength of his direction of the 1981 feature, Eye of the Needle, Marquand was hired by writer-producer George Lucas to direct Return of the Jedi.[6] In his commentary track on the DVD, Lucas explains that Marquand "had done some great suspense films and was really good with actors. Eye of the Needle was the film I'd seen that he had done that impressed me the most, it was really nicely done and had a lot of energy and suspense." For his work on the film, Marquand won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1984.[7]

      Marquand subsequently directed the 1985 courtroom thriller Jagged Edge, starring Jeff Bridges and Glenn Close.

      Personal life and death

      In 1960, Marquand married screenwriter Josephine Elwyn-Jones, the daughter of Labour MP Elwyn Jones and author and illustrator Pearl Binder. They had two children, Hannah Rachel and James Elwyn, before they divorced in 1970. James Marquand is a film editor who has also worked as a director. In 1981, Marquand married fellow film director Carol Bell, with whom he had another two children, Sam Adair and Molly Joyce. Marquand was a fan of Liverpool Football Club.[3]

      According to a 2014 Wales Online interview with his son James, Marquand wrote a screenplay for "a Welsh western" in the late 1970s at the South Wales branch of Pinewood Studios. The screenplay told the story of a young orphan girl in Victorian Mid Wales who enlists two local men to help her wreak revenge on those who killed her father; Marquand used to tell the story to his children when they were on holiday at the family's cottage near Tregaron. Marquand reportedly pitched it to Hollywood producers who expressed interest in making it into a film; however, Marquand declined the offer because the producers insisted the story be relocated to the Rocky Mountains in the United States. In the interview, James Marquand expressed interest in adapting his father's screenplay into a film.[8]

      Marquand was driving his children home when he suffered a stroke brought on by an embolism. He reached the destination before collapsing and died in hospital in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on 4 September 1987 at the age of 49. His last film, Hearts of Fire, starring Bob Dylan, was released posthumously.[6]

      Filmography

      Theatrical feature films
      Year Title Credited as Notes
      Director Producer Writer Himself
      1978 The Legacy Yes No No No
      1979 Birth of the Beatles Yes No No No
      1981 Eye of the Needle Yes No No No
      1983 Return of the Jedi Yes No No Yes Cameo as "Maj. Marquand" and voice cameo as "EV-9D9"
      1984 Until September Yes No No No
      1985 Jagged Edge Yes No No No
      1987 Hearts of Fire Yes Yes No No Posthumous release
      1993 Nowhere to Run No No Story No Posthumous release

      Short films
      Year Title Credited as Notes
      Director Producer Writer
      1973 The Iron Village Yes No No Documentary
      Between the Anvil and the Hammer Yes No No Documentary
      1975 The Puritan Experience: Making of a New World Yes Yes Yes
      The Puritan Experience: Forsaking England Yes Yes No
      Do Yourself Some Good Yes No No Documentary

      Television films
      Year Title Credited as Notes
      Director Producer Production
      assistant      		 Himself
      1964 The Long Journey No No Yes No
      The Colony No No Yes No
      Home for Heroes? Yes Yes No No
      Birmingham '64 No Yes No No
      1970 Edward II Yes No No No Co-directed with Toby Robertson
      E.M. Forster 1879-1970 No No No Yes Documentary
      1983 Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi No No No Yes Documentary
      From 'Star Wars' to 'Jedi': The Making of a Saga No No No Yes Documentary

      Television series
      Year Title Credited as Notes
      Director Producer Writer Himself
      1963 This Nation Tomorrow Yes No No No Mini-series, 3 episodes
      The Sky at Night Yes No No No Documentary, 2 episodes
      1963–64 Adventure Yes Yes No No Documentary, 2 episodes
      1964–65 Landmarks Yes No No No Documentary mini-series, 2 episodes
      1965 Inside America Yes No No No Mini-series, 4 episodes
      1966 Inside Ireland Yes No No No Mini-series, 2 episodes
      Women, Women, Women Yes No No No Mini-series, 2 episodes
      1967 Inside Australia Yes No No Yes Mini-series: Director (4 episodes) / Narrator (12 episodes)
      1967–70 One Pair of Eyes Yes No No No Mini-series, 4 episodes
      1968–70 Cameron Country Yes Yes No No Director (8 episodes) / Producer (episode ''Nobody Ever Asks Why'')
      1971 The Search for the Nile Yes No No No Mini-series, 2 episodes
      1971–73 Omnibus Yes Yes No No Documentary: Director (2 episodes) / Producer (episode ''That's My Little Masterpiece'')
      1975–76 Pilger Yes Yes No No Documentary: Director (4 episodes) / Producer (episode ''Zap!! The Weapon Is Food'')
      1976 NBC Special Treat Yes No Yes No Director (2 episodes) / Writer (episode ''Luke Was There'');
      1987 Omnibus No No No Yes Documentary (episode ''Getting to Dylan'')

      References
      1. "Welsh film facts". BBC. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
      2. "Richard Marquand Biography (1937-)". www.filmreference.com.
      3. Hays, Constance L. (6 September 1987). "RICHARD MARQUAND,MOVIEMAKER, DIES (Published 1987)". The New York Times.
      4. One Pair of Eyes: Margaret Drabble, BBC2, 9 March 1968, BBC Archive site
      5. Margaret Drabble "Once upon a life: Margaret Drabble", The Guardian, 5 December 2010
      6. Richard Marquand > Biography – AllMovie. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
      7. "1984 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. 26 July 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
      8. Bevan, Nathan (2 March 2014). "Star Wars Return of the Jedi director's son hopes to make film from his father's long-lost script". Wales Online. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
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