- Has two brothers, naturalist/presenter David Attenborough, and John Attenborough. Also, during World War Two, his parents adopted two German Jewish girls, who had been brought to Britain as part of the Kindertransport.
- 12/02: Said he would go back on his claim to never appear in front of the camera again for one role only: that of Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films.
- The last veteran of World War II to win an Oscar for Best Director.
- He died in Denville Hall care home in Northwood, London, on August 23, 2014, at lunchtime, five days before 91st birthday. He moved into the care home because of his failing health, in March 2013. His wife, Sheila, had been based there since June 2012.
- He reprised his Jurassic Park (1993) character, John Hammond, for Universal Studio's Jurassic Park: The Ride attraction. He appears in a short film at the beginning of the ride telling you that the NEW Jurassic Park (the ride you're on) is completely safe, and that there will never be another incident like that at Costa Rica in 1993.
- He was a close friend of Diana, Princess of Wales, and he coached her privately to help her become more confident about speaking in public in the early years of her marriage. She always called him "Dickie".
- Directed 4 different performers in Oscar-nominated performances: Ben Kingsley, Denzel Washington, Robert Downey Jr. and Debra Winger. Kingsley won an Oscar for his performance in Gandhi (1982).
- 12/26/04: Members of his family - daughter Jane, son-in-law Michael Holland, grandchildren Sam, Lucy and Alice and Michael's mother Jane - were holidaying in Phuket, Thailand, when the area was hit by the South Asian tsunami on Boxing Day 2004. Lord Attenborough lost his daughter, her mother-in-law and his 14-year-old granddaughter Lucy in the tragedy. His elder granddaughter, 17-year-old Alice, was seriously injured and his son-in-law and grandson survived unscathed.
- According to his brother David Attenborough, before his death, Richard was no longer able to walk and got about in a wheelchair. However, he still had all his other faculties about him, and was still as gregarious as ever.
- 1952: Was the first to star in Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap", now the longest-running play in the world.
- Was hospitalised in August 2008 when his heart stopped beating for a time, and again in December 2008 when he went into a coma for several days after suffering a fall.
- It was his life ambition to direct Gandhi (1982).
- 5/11/05: Gave a reading at a national British memorial service for the victims of the South Asian tsunami. He lost three members of his family in the tragedy.
- 1978: Officially retired from acting. He agreed to make a return to acting in Jurassic Park (1993), saying he was a huge admirer of Steven Spielberg and always felt bad that Gandhi (1982) had won the best picture award instead of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Spielberg had previously wanted to cast him as Tootles in Hook (1991), however, he'd been busy directing Chaplin (1992) at the time.
- Former father-in-law of actress Jane Seymour.
- Life President of Chelsea Football Club.
- Steven Spielberg has named him as an influence.
- Along with Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner and Robert Redford one of six actors to win an Academy Award for "Best Director".
- Father, with Sheila Sim of son, director Michael Attenborough born 1950, and daughters, Jane Attenborough, born 1955 and actress Charlotte Attenborough.born 1959. All, along with his brother David, lived within 15 minutes of each other.
- He made a cameo appearance as a lunatic wearing glasses in A Bridge Too Far (1977). This was his only acting role in a film that he directed.
- Before entrusting post-production on Jurassic Park (1993) to his friend George Lucas, Steven Spielberg thought he would have to divide his time between this and directing Schindler's List (1993). Spielberg at one point asked Attenborough, who had just appeared in Jurassic Park (1993), to serve as assistant director on Schindler's List (1993). This would have reunited Attenborough with Ben Kingsley, whom he directed in Gandhi (1982), which defeated E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) for Best Picture and Best Director. Attenborough's services turned out to be unnecessary, but he is not without his own connection to the material. While Attenborough is not himself Jewish, he does have two Jewish sisters: after World War II, his parents adopted two little girls whose parents had died in the Holocaust.
- 2003: Was made President of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), a role that had been vacant since the death of Princess Diana in 1997.
- He was 25 when he played the 14-year-old Jack Read in The Outsider (1948).
- 1993: Fellow of King's College, London.
- Often cast Anthony Hopkins.
- He was a close friend of the English actor Sir John Mills for many years, and gave the eulogy at his funeral in April 2005.
- Is one of 10 directors to win the Golden Globe, Director's Guild, BAFTA, and Oscar for the same movie, winning for Gandhi (1982). The other directors to achieve this are Mike Nichols for The Graduate (1967), Milos Forman for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Oliver Stone for Platoon (1986), Steven Spielberg for Schindler's List (1993), Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain (2005), Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity (2013) and Roma (2018), Alejandro G. Iñárritu for The Revenant (2015), and Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water (2017).
- He got the financial backing for 'Oh What a Lovely War' after singing and dancing though the score for Pamount's boss Charles Bludhorn who handed him a cheque for $6 million on the proviso he got 6 international stars for the film. He got 13 most of which did it for the minimum daily rate.
- After Joseph Mazzello played his grandson in Jurassic Park (1993), Attenborough cast him as Douglas Gresham in Shadowlands (1993), his next film as a director.
- He died only thirteen days after his Hamlet (1996) co-star Robin Williams.
- As of 2024, he is the only performer to win two Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actor without being nominated for a corresponding Oscar.
- 2002-: Third president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).
- Received an honorary doctorate from Dickinson College, Pennsylvania.
- In 2008 the UK Regional Critics' Film Awards were renamed The Richard Attenborough Film Awards, in his honour.
- He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1967 Queen's Birthday Honours List, made a Knight Bachelor in the 1976 Queen's New Year Honours List and a life peer in the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours List.
- Philosophies include believing in content as opposed to style and sincerity rather than intelligence.
- 1990: Freeman of the City of Leicester, England.
- 2004: 57 years after he starred in Brighton Rock (1948), his son Michael Attenborough directed a musical version of Graham Greene's novel.
- He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture.
- He was trained at RADA (The Royal Acadamy of Dramatic Arts), where he later became Chairman.
- Godfather of Emma Forbes.
- Steven Spielberg offered Attenborough the role of Tootles in Hook (1991) but he had to decline as he was directing Chaplin (1992). Arthur Malet was cast instead. Spielberg later cast Attenborough as John Hammond in Jurassic Park (1993), which was his first acting role since The Human Factor (1979).
- He and his grandson Will Attenborough have both been in films titled Dunkirk, made nearly sixty years apart, which detailed the evacuation of British soldiers from the battle in World War II: Richard in Dunkirk (1958) and Will in Dunkirk (2017).
- He directed Anthony Hopkins in five films: Young Winston (1972), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Magic (1978), Chaplin (1992) and Shadowlands (1993).
- He appeared in six films with his brother-in-law Gerald Sim: The Angry Silence (1960), Whistle Down the Wind (1961), Only Two Can Play (1962), Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964), The Last Grenade (1970) and A Bridge Too Far (1977), which Attenborough also directed.
- Created an honorary D.Litt of the Universities of Leicester, Kent and Sussex in 1970, 1981 and 1987 respectively.
- He appeared in five films with John Mills: In Which We Serve (1942), Operation Disaster (1950), The Baby and the Battleship (1956), Dunkirk (1958) and Hamlet (1996). He also directed him in three films: Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Young Winston (1972) and Gandhi (1982).
- In an AFI poll, he described Charles Chaplin's film The Gold Rush (1925) as his favourite film.
- Of the twelve films that he directed, Magic (1978), A Chorus Line (1985) and Closing the Ring (2007) were the only ones which were not based on real events.
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