Richard Marquand

Richard Marquand (22 September 1937 – 4 September 1987) was a Welsh film director,[1] best known for directing 1983's Return of the Jedi. He also directed the critically acclaimed 1981 drama film Eye of the Needle and the 1985 thriller Jagged Edge.

Richard Marquand
Born	(1937-09-22)22 September 1937 Llanishen, Cardiff, Wales
Died	4 September 1987(1987-09-04) (aged 49) Tunbridge Wells, England
Occupation	Film director
Children	James Marquand
Parent(s)	Hilary Marquand (father)
Relatives	David Marquand (brother)

Early life

Marquand was born in Llanishen, Cardiff, Wales. He was the son of Rachel E. (née Rees) and Hilary Marquand, who was a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) and Minister in the Post Second World War Labour Government.[2] He is the younger brother of David Marquand, who also served as a Labour Party MP.

Richard Marquand was educated at Emanuel School, London, the University of Aix (now Aix-Marseille University) in Aix-en-Provence, France and King's College, Cambridge. 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."

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

Death

In 1987, Marquand died of a stroke aged 49. His last film, Hearts of Fire, starring Bob Dylan, was released posthumously.[6]

Marquand had four children;[7] Hannah, Sam, Molly, and James, the last of whom is also a film director.

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 epsiodes) / 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–)
3. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/06/obituaries/richard-marquandmoviemaker-dies.html
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. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/06/obituaries/richard-marquandmoviemaker-dies.html

External links

• Richard Marquand on IMDb
• Richard Marquand at AllMovie
• Richard Marquand at Find a Grave