Hollywood honors ‘chameleon’ director Alan Parker: ‘a great artist’
Actors, comedians, filmmakers and more are paying tribute to English director Alan Parker, who died Friday at age 76 after a long illness.
Ben Stiller, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sanjeev Bhaskar and John Cusack are among the many who have honored Parker on social media. The veteran filmmaker boasted a variety of credits, including “Evita,” “Midnight Express,” “Mississippi Burning” and “Bugsy Malone.”
“So sad to hear of Alan Parker’s passing,” Stiller wrote on Twitter. “What a great director who made what I consider ‘real’ movies. He inspired so many filmmakers: ‘Fame’, ‘Midnight Express,’ ‘Mississippi Burning’...Watch his films — they are some of the best of the 70s and 80s.”
“Evita” composer Webber remembered his “friend and collaborator” Parker as “one of the few directors to truly understand musicals on screen,” while Modine, who starred in 1984’s “Birdy,” hailed him as “a great artist [whose] films will live forever.”
“So very sad to share the news of the passing of my dear friend, Sir Alan Parker,” Modine tweeted. “Being cast in his epic film, Birdy, transformed my life. ... Godspeed, Sir Alan.”
During his decades-long career, Parker’s feature films collected 10 Oscars, 10 Golden Globes and 19 BAFTA Awards. Both the American and British film academies released statements on Twitter saluting the decorated filmmaker.
“From ‘Fame’ to ‘Midnight Express,’ two-time Oscar nominee Alan Parker was a chameleon,” the American academy tweeted. “His work entertained us, connected us, and gave us such a strong sense of time and place. An extraordinary talent, he will be greatly missed.”
“We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of BAFTA Fellow Alan Parker,” BAFTA tweeted. “As BAFTA-winning filmmaker, he brought us joy with Bugsy Malone, The Commitments, Midnight Express and many more.”
See more reactions to Parker’s death below.
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