Writer-director John Hughes, Hollywood's youth impresario of the 1980s and '90s who captured theteen and preteen market with such favorites as "The Breakfast Club," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and"Home Alone, died Thursday, a spokeswoman said. He was 59.
Hughes died of a heart attack during a morning walk in Manhattan, Michelle Bega said. He wasin New York to visit family.
A native of Lansing, Mich., who later moved to suburban Chicago and set much of his workthere, Hughes rose from comedy writer to ad writer to silver screen champ with his affectionate andidealized portraits of teens, whether the romantic and sexual insecurity of "Sixteen Candles," orthe J.D. Salinger-esque rebellion against conformity in "The Breakfast Club."
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Hughes' ensemble comedies helped make stars out of Molly Ringwald, Anthony MichaelHall, Ally Sheedy and many other young performers. He also scripted the phenomenally popular "HomeAlone," which made little-known Macaulay Culkin a sensation as the 8-year-old accidentallyabandoned by his vacationing family, and wrote or directed such hits as "National Lampoon'sVacation," "Pretty in Pink," "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" and "Uncle Buck."
"I was a fan of both his work and a fan of him as a person," Culkin said. "The world has lostnot only a quintessential filmmaker whose influence will be felt for generations, but a great anddecent man."
Other actors who got early breaks from Hughes included John Cusack ("Sixteen Candles"), JuddNelson ("The Breakfast Club"), Steve Carell ("Curly Sue") and Lili Taylor ("She's Having a Baby").
Actor and director Bill Paxton credited Hughes for launching his career by casting him asbullying older brother Chet in the 1985 film "Weird Science."
"He took a tremendous chance on me," Paxton said. "Like Orson Welles, he was a boy wonder, adirector's director, a writer's writer, a filmmaker's filmmaker. He was one of the giants."
Hughes films, especially "Home Alone," were among the most popular of their time and thedirector was openly involved in marketing them. But, with his ever-handy "idea books," Hughesworked as much from personal life as from commercial instinct. His "National Lampoon" scripts wereinspired by his own family's vacations. "Sixteen Candles," in which Ringwald plays a teen whose16th birthday is forgotten, was based on a similar event in a friend's life.
In a statement quoted on People.com, Ringwald said she was "stunned and incredibly sad" tohear about Hughes' death.
"He will be missed - by me and by everyone that he has touched," she said. "Myheart and all my thoughts are with his family now."
Tall and pale, with a high head of hair and owlish glasses, Hughes caught on just a couple ofyears after MTV was launched. MTV teens were drawn to his stories, innocent compared to the filmsand world events of the 1960s' and '70s. The conflicts were about self-discovery and fitting inrather than hard drugs, political protest or race.
"I'm not going to pretend I know the black experience," Hughes told The New York Times in1991 after being asked about having no major black characters in his films.
Those who related to his films related in full. They hung posters of "The Breakfast Club" ontheir walls. They coveted Ringwald's Ralph Lauren boots. They bought the soundtracks, with such MTVfavorites as Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)." They giggled at and then repeated suchnaughty dialogue as "I can't believe I gave my panties to a geek" or related to such philosophy as"We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all."
Actor Matthew Broderick worked with Hughes in 1986 when he played the title character in"Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
"I am truly shocked and saddened by the news about my old friend John Hughes. He was awonderful, very talented guy and my heart goes out to his family," Broderick said.
Hughes was a salesman's son who recalled having a fairly happy childhood, although he was abit of a loner in high school. An art student at the University of Arizona, he dropped out andreturned to the Chicago area, where he began sending jokes - unsolicited - to such comedians asNorm Crosby and Rodney Dangerfield.
He then moved into advertising, working seven years at DDB Needham Worldwide and then the LeoBurnett Company, and devised at least one memorable campaign - using a credit card to demonstratethe slide of Edge shaving cream.
In the late 1970s, he became a Hollywood screen writer, and, like so many in his profession,tired of seeing his work changed. He wanted to direct. He was unsure how, and afraid to work withexperienced actors, so he came up with a simple, youthful plot a bunch of teens in a single room,which became "The Breakfast Club." (His second release as a director, "Sixteen Candles," came outfirst.)
Between 1984 and 1990, he wrote or directed more than a dozen hits and acquired enough powerto move back to the Chicago area. He remained popular even when his key characters, in "Planes,Trains & Automobiles" and "Uncle Buck," were adults.
But as Hughes advanced into middle age, his commercial touch faded and, in Salinger style, heincreasingly withdrew from public life. His last directing credit was in 1991, for "Curly Sue," andhe wrote just a handful of scripts over the past decade. He was rarely interviewed or photographed.
Devin Ratray, best known for playing Culkin's older brother Buzz McCallister in the "HomeAlone" films, said he remained close to Hughes over the years.
"He changed my life forever," Ratray said. "Nineteen years later, people from all over theworld contact me telling me how much 'Home Alone' meant to them, their families, and theirchildren."
