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On February 10, 2023, English film director Hugh Hudson, who is best known for directing the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire, passed away at the age of 86 in London, UK.
His family confirmed the news of his death via a statement issued to The Guardian, reading:
“Hugh Hudson, 86, beloved husband and father, died at Charing Cross hospital on 10 February after a short illness.”
However, they didn't elaborate on the "short illness" that the director was suffering from.
Hugh Hudson began his career in the entertainment industry by making advertisements before he bagged a job as a second unit director alongside Alan Parker on Midnight Express.
In 1981, his famed directorial film Chariots of Fire, which revolved around two British athletes at the Olympics of 1924. The movie was instrumental in establishing him as a prominent director in the indutry and gained him global recognition.
The news of Hugh Hudson's death prompts Twitter users to pay tribute to the late director by sharing clips from his movies
After the news of Hugh Hudson's death went viral over the internet, Twitteratis paid tribute to the deceased director. Several users shared scenes from Chariots of Fire and his other works while remembering his contribution to the entertainment industry.
Hugh Hudson's Chariots of Fire won four Oscars, including the Academy Award for Best Picture
Born on August 25, 1936, Hugh Hudson was a native of London, United Kingdom. He completed his education in a boarding school before enrolling at Eton College. After graduating from college, he entered the Dragoon Guards and served there until 1960, when he was discharged.
In the late 1960s he shifted to the entertainment industry and began working for an advertising firm in London before switching to TV commercials and documentaries. At this point, Hudson caught David Puttnam's attention via his work, and the latter produced his award-winning film Chariots of Fire.
While speaking with the Guardian in 2012, Hudson said:
“I think David Puttnam [the producer] chose me because he sensed I’d relate to the themes of class and racial prejudice. I’d been sent to Eton because my family had gone there for generations, but I hated all the prejudice. The scriptwriter, Colin Welland, a working-class boy from Merseyside, understood it perfectly, too. So it was a personal story for us.”
The film bagged seven Oscar nominations and won four of them, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. His next project, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, also received three Oscar nominations. This was followed by the Revolution that starred Al Pacino.
Some of his other credits include My Life So Far and I Dreamed of Africa, alongside directing the stage adaptation of Chariots of Fire and the opera version of The Crucible. In 2022, he co-wrote the screenplay for the 2022 film The Tiger's Nest.
In response to Hudson's death, actor Nigel Havers issued a statement saying he was "beyond devastated" over the director's demise:
“Chariots of Fire was one of the greatest experiences of my professional life, and, like so many others, I owe much of what followed to him. I shall miss him greatly."
Hudson's death comes less than nine months after Chariots of Fire's composer Vangelis passed away in a French hospital.
