Tributes To Film Director Richard Attenborough

Tributes have poured in from the worlds of entertainment and politics following the death of Richard Attenborough.

The Oscar-winning actor and director died on Sunday at the age of 90.

Minutes after his death, Twitter, facebook and other social network platforms came alive with tweets and comments of sadness and tributes to Lord Attenborough for his astounding contribution to film.

Steven Spielberg said he was “in an endless line of those who completely adored him”. David Puttnam called him “completely irreplaceable and a tireless worker as a public figure”.

“This is a most remarkable man who, when you string together the things he did, the things he helped, the things he salvaged, it’s mind-boggling the list of decent, good things he did for Britain.”

Chelsea Football Club was another of his enduring passions. In a statement the club said: “Lord Attenborough was a thoroughly lovely and talented man who used his fame and influence for the good of the many causes close to his heart. We will always be grateful that our football club was one of them.”

Co-stars from across the Atlantic also paid tribute, remembering the British star with great fondness.

Mia Farrow, with whom he starred in the Guns at Batasi, called him “the kindest man I have ever had the privilege of working with. A Prince”.

Mara Wilson, with whom he starred as Father Christmas in A Miracle on 34th Street, said he was “the only Santa Claus I ever believed in. A wonderful man”.

“He will always be my Kris Kringle,” tweeted fellow 34th Street star, Elizabeth Perkins.

Prime Minister David Cameron said he was “one of the greats of cinema”, while Ed Miliband called it “a sad day” for film “and the Labour movement”.

Lord Attenborough was a member of the Labour party for many years, and much of his work – such as Cry Freedom and Gandhi – reflected his liberal political beliefs.

Tony Blair said the filmmaker had “an absolute passion for human dignity and the equality of all”.

“As a supporter of progressive causes from the anti-apartheid movement to the celebration of India’s independence, he was way ahead of his time,” he said.

Lord Attenborough’s entry in Who’s Who listed more than 30 organisations of which he was or had been a director, trustee, fellow, chairman or president, including the British Film Institute, the Tate Gallery and the Muscular Dystrophy Group.

Lord Attenborough was a trustee of Bafta from 1972 to 2003, and proposed the introduction of an Academy Fellowship, which he himself received in 1983.

As an actor and director, he won three Baftas, two for Gandhi – again in 1983 – and a third for his performance in two films, Guns at Batasi and Seance on a Wet Afternoon, in 1963.

Speaking of his contribution to British film, Lord Bragg told the BBC “nobody has done as much as he has for one industry”.
The filmmaker had been frail for some time, having moved into a nursing home to be with his wife of nearly 70 years, actress Sheila Sim, last year.

His son Michael announced his death on Sunday evening. The couple also had two daughters, actress Charlotte, and Jane, who died tragically in the Asian tsunami in 2004.

After Lord Attenborough’s death, many people took to the social media to give their tribute but many innocently mistook him for his brother and have mourned the passing of a “legendary nature documentarian”, David Attenborough.