Hugh Hudson, director of ‘Chariots of Fire’, dies aged 86
Celebrated film director Hugh Hudson, the man who brought the 1981 sports drama Chariots of Fire to life, has passed away aged 86 following a short illness.
A statement released on behalf of the auteur’s family read: “Hugh Hudson, 86, beloved husband and father, died at Charing Cross hospital on 10 February after a short illness. He is survived by his wife, Maryam, his son, Thomas, and his first wife, Sue.”
Given the news, actor Nigel Havers, who starred in the film alongside Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Ian Holm and John Gielgud, offered some words: “I am beyond devastated that my great friend Hugh Hudson, who I have known for more than 45 years, has died. 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.”
Notably, Hudson started his career in commercials before getting his break as the second unit director on Alan Parker and Oliver Stone’s 1978 prison drama, Midnight Express. Rising through the industry quickly, it was only three years later that he released his masterpiece Chariots of Fire. Notably, the film told the story of two British athletes competing at the 1924 Olympics and was a significant hit. The feature went on to win the coveted ‘Best Picture’ award at the Oscars
Hudson’s other efforts included 1984’s Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, Revolution, the 1985 historical drama featuring Al Pacino, and 1989’s Lost Angels, which starred Keifer Sutherland, and entered that year’s Cannes Film Festival.
“I think David Puttnam [the producer] chose me because he sensed I’d relate to the themes of class and racial prejudice,” Hudson told the Guardian of his role in Chariots of Fire in 2012. “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.”
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