Richard Marquand

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 TV 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.