| John Hughes  Born: 18-Feb-1950
Birthplace: Lansing, MI
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Film Director Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Director, Ferris Bueller's Day Off Hughes wrote for National Lampoon in the 1970s, and became an editor at the magazine in 1979. He was an uncredited "re-writer" for several extremely awful movies, before deciding he could do better. His first produced screenplay was National Lampoon's Class Reunion in 1982. He then wrote Mr. Mom and the first Griswold family road trip, National Lampoon's Summer Vacation, and followed these by wrote or directed the "high school" films that made him a household name, including The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. His funny but sometimes insightful view of white suburban teen life established Hughes as the king of '80s acne cinema.
By then, though, Hughes was 36 years old, and perhaps he was tired of being identified as a moviemaker for teens. His next film, the underrated and enjoyable Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, had protagonists about Hughes's age. It was also the last movie he directed that connected with a wide audience.
As a writer, Hughes' works include National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and his biggest hit, by far, 1990's Home Alone. Directed by Chris Columbus, Home Alone earned more than half a billion dollars, remained number one at the box office for twelve consecutive weeks, and has so far spawned three increasingly wretched sequels. After Home Alone, though, almost everything Hughes has written has been dreck, including the remakes of Miracle on 34th Street, Flubber, and 101 Dalmatians. He hasn't directed a film since Curly Sue in 1991, and hasn't directed a film even nominally worth watching since Uncle Buck in 1989.
The Breakfast Club and the high school scenes for Ferris Bueller's Day Off were filmed at Hughes's alma mater, Glenbrook North High School, in Northbrook, Illinois. Wife: Nancy Ludwig (girlfriend since high school, two sons)
Son: John Hughes III (rocker, Bill Ding, president of Hefty Records)
Son: James Hughes (writer, New Port South)
High School: Glenbrook North High School, Northbrook, IL (1968)
University: Arizona State University (dropped out)
Planet Hollywood
National Lampoon
FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR
Curly Sue (25-Oct-1991)
Uncle Buck (16-Aug-1989)
She's Having a Baby (5-Feb-1988)
Planes, Trains, & Automobiles (25-Nov-1987)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (11-Jun-1986)
Weird Science (2-Aug-1985)
The Breakfast Club (15-Feb-1985)
Sixteen Candles (4-May-1984)
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