Sir Alan Parker, director of "Bugsy Malone" and "Evita" dies at the age of 76

(News 1st): Sir Alan Parker, the acclaimed British director of films such as "Fame", "Evita" and "Bugsy Malone" has died at the age of 76. The double Oscar nominee's many other credits include "Midnight Express", "Mississippi Burning", "Angel Heart", "The Commitments", "Angela's Ashes" and "Birdy." One of the most commercially successful composers of all time; Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber tweeted saying, Sir Alan had been "one of the few directors to truly understand musicals on-screen". The director passed away after suffering from a lengthy illness. He is survived by his wife Lisa Moran-Parker, five children and seven grandchildren. A founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain, Sir Alan was also the first chairman of the UK Film Council and received the CBE in 1995 and a knighthood in 2002. British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) said it was "deeply saddened" to hear of Sir Alan's death, adding that his films had "brought us joy". The British Film Institute, which Sir Alan chaired in the late 1990s, expressed similar sentiments. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences remembered him as "a chameleon" and "extraordinary talent" whose work "entertained us, connected us and gave us such a strong sense of time and place". Despite not winning an Oscar for best director, his films won 10 Academy Awards as well as another 10 Golden Globes. Sir Alan's last film as director was 2003 drama "The Life of David Gale" starring Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet. In 2005 he published "Will Write and Direct for Food" a compendium of his often satirical observations on making films in the UK and US. In 2018, he donated his extensive collection of scripts and working papers to the British Film Institute's National Archive. According to a family spokeswoman, he spent his retirement indulging his passion for silk screen printing and painting.