John Hughes (1950-2009), Brat Pack Director Dies

John Hughes

photo by Paul Natkin

John Hughes, the director behind the “Brat Pack” teens films of the 1980s, died today at age 59 after suffering a heart attack while taking a morning walk in NYC.

John also used to write for National Lampoon Magazine, including the short story “Vacation ’58”, based on a childhood trip he took to Disneyland, which he adapted as the screenplay for the 1983 film National Lampoon’s Vacation.

Here’s a montage of John Hughes 1980s films set to The Who’s “Baba O’Riley”.

UPDATE 1: Alison Byrne Fields has a wonderful write-up about about being John Hughes’ pen pal and why he left Hollywood. Here’s her Alison’s follow-up post in response to all the reactions generated by her original post.

UPDATE 2: Molly Ringwald writes about John Hughes in an op-ed piece for the NY Times.

Scott Beale
Scott Beale

Scott Beale is the founder of Laughing Squid and is based in New York City. When not running the blog, Scott can be found posting on Threads and sharing photos on Instagram.