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

Early life

Marquand was born in Llanishen, Cardiff, Wales, the younger brother of the political writer and academic David Marquand and the son of Rachel E. (née Rees) and Hilary Marquand, who was a Labour member of Parliament and Minister in the Post Second World War Labour Government. Richard Marquand was educated at Emanuel School, 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 writing and directing television documentaries for the BBC, where he worked on projects such as the 1972 series Search for the Nile and an edition of One Pair of Eyes (1968), about the novelist Margaret Drabble who had been a friend of his at Cambridge. He collaborated with the celebrated foreign correspondent, James Cameron, (not to be confused with the director) 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 producer George Lucas to direct Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. 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." To date, Marquand is the only Star Wars director from outside the United States, until Gareth Edwards's 2016 release Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

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

In 1987, Marquand died of a stroke at the age of 49, eighteen days short of his 50th birthday. His last film, Hearts of Fire, starring Bob Dylan, was released posthumously.

His son James Marquand is also a director. He has 3 other children: Hannah Marquand, Sam Marquand and Molly Marquand.

Filmography

[ Source: Wikipedia ]