More 4 to air tribute to Richard Attenborough

Friends and colleagues including Stephen Spielberg, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Penelope Wilton, Hayley Mills and Sir Kenneth Branagh are to reflect on their memories of working with Lord Attenborough in a More4 special tonight.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, arts broadcaster Melvyn Bragg and former Channel 4 Chief Executive Michael Grade also offer words of praise for the man who made an unmatched contribution to the British film industry.

This tribute will also feature a wealth of archive footage many of his great films, from a theatrical career that spanned six decades, including Brighton Rock, 10 Rillington Place, Gandhi, Cry Freedom and Shadowlands.

“As well as being one of Britain’s finest actors and directors, he was also one of the founding fathers of Channel 4. He was Deputy Chairman from 1982–87, having turned down the Chairmanship as he was busy making Ghandi. He was then Chairman between 1987 and 1992. Integral to the Channel’s launch in 1982, he frequently made the case to Government and helped to steer things through sometimes uneasy early days.”

 

“He was key to establishing our commitment to film in a period that produced My Beautiful Launderette and Letter to Brezhnev; and his tenure is marked by some of the Channel’s most defining work: from the launch of Cutting Edge, Dispatches and Channel 4 News, to controversial documentary The Committee, GBH, Desmonds and The Big Breakfast. He was a constant champion of the creative heart of Channel 4, reportedly telling an internal meeting: “Darling we are all, you know, in show business. Never forget that will you? We should never forget the enormous impact of Richard Attenborough in putting in place the building blocks that make Channel 4 the amazing place it is today.” – Channel 4’s Chief Executive David Abraham

Richard Attenborough: A Life will air at 7pm tonight, (26 August) on More4.