His highly liberal views are reflected in such a film as Cry Freedom 1987, which expressed strong anti-apartheid sentiments, and he starred in 7o Rillington Place 1970 because it chimed with his opposition to capital punishment. He has also directed and/or produced several films in the US including Magic (1978) and A Chorus Line (1985) but they are not among his most successful work.

Attenborough returned to the screen during the '90s, acting in avuncular character roles, the most popular of which was the affable but woefully misguided billionaire entrepreneur John Hammond in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park (1993), a role he reprised for the film's 1997 sequel. Other notable performances included the jovial Kriss Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street (1994) and Sir William Cecil in Elizabeth (1998). The brother of naturalist David Attenborough and husband of actress Sheila Sim, he was knighted in 1976 and became a life peer in 1993. Attenborough has chaired dozens of professional organizations and worked tirelessly on behalf of Britain's Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.

His younger brother is the celebrated naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, and his daughter is actress Charlotte Attenborough who has appeared in several TV films and Jane Eyre, 1996.
Lord Attenborough also appears in the Directors /Producers / Writers section of this website.

Quotes:
'At my age the only problem is with remembering names. When I call everyone darling, it has damn all to do with passionately adoring them, but I know I'm safe calling them that. Although, of course, I adore them too'

'David has asked me, a number of people have asked me and said, What performance do you like best or what's the best film you've made and so on and I don't really have any hesitation that the film I'm least embarrassed by and ashamed of or uneasy about is Shadowlands'

Autobiographies:

Suggested films to see: