Richard Alfred Marquand (22 September 1937 – 4 September 1987) was a Welsh film and television director active in both American and British film productions, best known for directing the 1983 space opera Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy. He also directed the 1981 drama film Eye of the Needle, the critically panned romance film Until September, and the 1985 thriller Jagged Edge.

Early life Marquand was born in Llanishen, Cardiff, Wales. He was the son of Rachel E. (née Rees) and Hilary Marquand, an economist and Labour MP who served as Minister of Pensions and later Minister of Health under Prime Minister Clement Attlee. He is the younger brother of David Marquand, who also served as a Labour MP.

Marquand was educated at Emanuel School, London, the University of Aix-Marseille in France and King's College, Cambridge, where he studied modern languages, and where one of his tutors was E. M. Forster. During National Service he studied Mandarin and was posted to Hong Kong where he also read the news on the English language Hong Kong Television.

Career By late 1966, Marquand had begun a career directing television documentaries for the BBC, where he worked on projects such as the 1972 series Search for the Nile and an edition of One Pair of Eyes (1968),One Pair of Eyes: Margaret Drabble, BBC2, 9 March 1968, BBC Archive site about the novelist Margaret Drabble who had been a friend of his at Cambridge.Margaret Drabble "Once upon a life: Margaret Drabble", The Guardian, 5 December 2010 He collaborated with the celebrated foreign correspondent James Cameron on a long-running series called Cameron Country for BBC television and also with John Pilger on a series of films for ITV. In 1979, Marquand incorporated many of his documentary techniques in his biographical television movie Birth of the Beatles. He directed several films specifically for children including the 1977 Emmy winning Big Henry and the Polka Dot Kid.

On the strength of his direction of the 1981 feature, Eye of the Needle, Marquand was hired by writer-producer George Lucas to direct Return of the Jedi. In his commentary track on the DVD, Lucas explains that Marquand "had done some great suspense films and was really good with actors. Eye of the Needle was the film I'd seen that he had done that impressed me the most, it was really nicely done and had a lot of energy and suspense." For his work on the film, Marquand won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1984.

Marquand subsequently directed the 1985 courtroom thriller Jagged Edge, starring Jeff Bridges and Glenn Close.

Personal life and death In 1960, Marquand married screenwriter Josephine Elwyn-Jones, the daughter of Labour MP Elwyn Jones and author and illustrator Pearl Binder. They had two children, Hannah Rachel and James Elwyn, before they divorced in 1970. James Marquand is a film editor who has also worked as a director. In 1981, Marquand married fellow film director Carol Bell, with whom he had another two children, Sam Adair and Molly Joyce. Marquand was a fan of Liverpool Football Club.

According to a 2014 Wales Online interview with his son James, Marquand wrote a screenplay for "a Welsh western" in the late 1970s at the South Wales branch of Pinewood Studios. The screenplay told the story of a young orphan girl in Victorian Mid Wales who enlists two local men to help her wreak revenge on those who killed her father; Marquand used to tell the story to his children when they were on holiday at the family's cottage near Tregaron. Marquand reportedly pitched it to Hollywood producers who expressed interest in making it into a film; however, Marquand declined the offer because the producers insisted the story be relocated to the Rocky Mountains in the United States. In the interview, James Marquand expressed interest in adapting his father's screenplay into a film.

On 30 August 1987, Marquand had a stroke at his home in Penshurst. He was taken to Kent and Sussex Hospital in Royal Tunbridge Wells, where he died five days later, on 4 September, at the age of 49. His last film, Hearts of Fire, starring Bob Dylan, was released posthumously.

Filmography Short film Year Title Director Producer Writer1975 The Puritan Experience: Making of a New World The Puritan Experience: Forsaking England

Feature film Director Year Title Notes 1978 The Legacy 1979 Birth of the Beatles 1981 Eye of the Needle 1983 Return of the Jedi Cameo as "Maj. Marquand" and voice cameo as "EV-9D9" 1984 Until September 1985 Jagged Edge 1987 Hearts of Fire Also producer

Story writer Nowhere to Run (1993) (Posthumous release)

Television Miniseries Year Title Notes 1963 This Nation Tomorrow 3 episodes 1965 Inside America 4 episodes1966 Inside Ireland 2 episodes Women, Women, Women 2 episodes 1967 Inside Australia Director (4 episodes) / Narrator (12 episodes) 1971 The Search for the Nile 2 episodes

TV movies Year Title Director Producer Notes1964 Home for Heroes? Birmingham '64 1970 Edward II Associate director under Toby Robertson

TV series Year TitleDirectorProducerWriterNotes1968–70Cameron CountryDirector (8 episodes) / Producer (episode ''Nobody Ever Asks Why'')1976NBC Special TreatDirector (2 episodes) / Writer (episode ''Luke Was There'')

Documentary works Short film The Iron Village (1973) Between the Anvil and the Hammer (1973) Do Yourself Some Good (1975)

TV series Year TitleDirectorProducerNotes 1963The Sky at Night2 episodes1963–64Adventure2 episodes1964–65Landmarks2 episodes1967–70One Pair of Eyes4 episodes1971–73OmnibusDirector (2 episodes) / Producer (episode ''That's My Little Masterpiece'')1975–76PilgerDirector (4 episodes) / Producer (episode ''Zap!! The Weapon Is Food'')

As himself E.M. Forster 1879-1970 (1970) Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983) From 'Star Wars' to 'Jedi': The Making of a Saga (1983) Omnibus (1987) (Episode ''Getting to Dylan'')

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