Director John Hughes, who passed away today at the age of 59, will be remembered for his classic ’80s teen comedies.
“The Breakfast Club.” “Sixteen Candles.” “Some Kind of Wonderful.” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
But perhaps his greatest cinematic legacy is leaving the business at the peak of his powers.
Hughes has been an enigma in recent years, making himself unavailable for interviews and refusing to cash in on his name via new projects.
No “Ferris” sequel. No “Breakfast Club” reunion.
He left the business. Period.
And while there may be a variety of reason for his actions, it means he was able to retire on his terms from Hollywood before his knack for knowing how teenagers live and breathe abandoned him.
UPDATE: Big Hollywood’s Andrew Breitbart shares a personal remembrance of Hughes.
UPDATE: Molly Ringwald remembers Hughes
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mmmmm…..I dunno dude. He made 21 more films after Home Alone and pretty much all of them were crap.
He had a hand in multiple films in the 1990s … but many of them he had only token input on (some credits include ‘characters by’ John Hughes – meaning the sequels used characters he created …)
He even provide the ’story’ for Drillbit Taylor, but that’s the bare bones of a movie like that.
Essentially he began withdrawing from being a major Hollywood player a while ago.
i have a lot of respect for hughes i heard he left the business because he hated what it was doing to people around him mainly that his best friend John candy he felt was worked too hard causing his death. He didn’t want his kids to be around that so he just left. He was a great director and just a good normal guy that is a rarity.
I wish Hughes had been more open about those feelings … it would have been a great life lesson for others to follow.