I came from a family who believed in, in quotes, the Rights of Man, who believed that in order to justify the sort of luxurious life that the majority of us have, related to the whole world, that you had to do something.

Producer and Director

In the late 1950s Attenborough formed a production company Beaver Films with Bryan Forbes and began to build a profile as a producer on projects including The League of Gentlemen (1959) The Angry Silence (1960) and Whistle Down the Wind (1961) also appearing in the first two of these as an actor. During the 1960s he expanded his range of character roles in films such as Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) and Guns at Batasi (1964) for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM). He also founded the Jane Holland Creative Centre for Learning at Waterford Kamhlaba in Swaziland in memory of his daughter who died in the tsunami on 26 December 2004.

As a film director and producer he won two Academy Awards for Gandhi in 1983. As an actor he is perhaps best known for his roles in Brighton Rock The Great Escape 10 Rillington Place Miracle on 34th Street and Jurassic Park.