TampaFLUSA's WunderBlog

Last Updated: 4:02 AM GMT on August 07, 2009 — Last Comment: 9:58 PM GMT on July 19, 2009

	John Hughes Dead

Posted by: TampaFLUSA, 1:59 AM GMT on August 07, 2009

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Writer-director John Hughes, Hollywood's youth impresario of the 1980s and '90s who captured the teen and preteen market with such favorites as "Home Alone," "The Breakfast Club" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," died Thursday, a spokeswoman said. He was 59.

Hughes died of a heart attack during a morning walk in Manhattan, Michelle Bega said. He was in New York to visit family.

Jake Bloom, Hughes' longtime attorney, said he was "deeply saddened and in shock" to learn of the director's death.

A native of Lansing, Mich., who later moved to suburban Chicago and set much of his work there, Hughes rose from ad writer to comedy writer to silver screen champ with his affectionate and idealized portraits of teens, whether the romantic and sexual insecurity of "Sixteen Candles," or the J.D. Salinger-esque rebellion against conformity in "The Breakfast Club."

Hughes' ensemble comedies helped make stars out of Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy and many other young performers. He also scripted the phenomenally popular "Home Alone," which made little-known Macaulay Culkin a sensation as the 8-year-old accidentally abandoned by his vacationing family, and wrote or directed such hits as "National Lampoon's Vacation," "Pretty in Pink," "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" and "Uncle Buck."

"I was a fan of both his work and a fan of him as a person," Culkin said. "The world has lost not only a quintessential filmmaker whose influence will be felt for generations, but a great and decent man."

"I was stunned and incredibly sad to hear about the death of John Hughes. He was and will always be such an important part of my life. He will be missed -- by me and by everyone that he has touched. My heart and all my thoughts are with his family now," Molly Ringwald released in a statement.

Devin Ratray, best known for playing Culkin's older brother Buzz McCallister in the "Home Alone" films, said he remained close to Hughes over the years.

"He changed my life forever," Ratray said. "Nineteen years later, people from all over the world contact me telling me how much 'Home Alone' meant to them, their families, and their children."

Other actors who got early breaks from Hughes included John Cusack ("Sixteen Candles"), Judd Nelson ("The Breakfast Club"), Steve Carell ("Curly Sue") and Lili Taylor ("She's Having a Baby").

Actor Matthew Broderick worked with Hughes in 1986 when he played the title character in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

"I am truly shocked and saddened by the news about my old friend John Hughes. He was a wonderful, very talented guy and my heart goes out to his family," Broderick said.

Ben Stein, who played the monotone economics teacher calling the roll and repeatedly saying "Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?", said Hughes was a towering talent.

"He made a better connection with young people than anyone in Hollywood had ever made before or since," Stein said on Fox Business Network. "It's incredibly sad. He was a wonderful man, a genius, a poet. I don't think anyone has come close to him as being the poet of the youth of America in the postwar period. He was to them what Shakespeare was to the Elizabethan Age.

"You had a regular guy — just an ordinary guy. If you met him, you would never guess he was a big Hollywood power."

As Hughes advanced into middle age, his commercial touch faded and, in Salinger style, he increasingly withdrew from public life. His last directing credit was in 1991, for "Curly Sue," and he wrote just a handful of scripts over the past decade. He was rarely interviewed or photographed.

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Updated: 4:02 AM GMT on August 07, 2009

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	Bodies Misplaced At Arlington Cemetery

Posted by: TampaFLUSA, 9:47 PM GMT on July 19, 2009

This should outrage us all!More reading on the Investigation: Link

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Updated: 2:48 PM GMT on July 20, 2009

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	Photo Says It All....

Posted by: TampaFLUSA, 2:35 AM GMT on July 10, 2009

While in Italy for the G8 summit, President Barack Obama checked out the, er, sights.

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	'98 Central Florida Tornado Outbreak

Posted by: TampaFLUSA, 11:06 PM GMT on July 04, 2009

Since El Nino might be poking His little head back, it reminds me of a event that humbled and shocked me..the Deadliest Florida tornado outbreak (Monday Feb. 23, 1998). I remember this well because I was driving back from Orlando to Tampa with my girlfriend at the time and just missed the worst weather by an hour.I drove back to Kissimmee a week later to 'gawk'. There was a sign in front of a nearly destroyed house, and as remember it said "Keep looking, or just as...

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Updated: 10:14 PM GMT on July 06, 2009

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	World's Ugliest Dog

Posted by: TampaFLUSA, 7:39 PM GMT on June 29, 2009

With all the death the last couple of days, these guys should make you smile.PETALUMA -- A boxer-mix with a prominent under-bite named Pabst has been crowned the world's ugliest dog.The annual World's Ugliest Dog contest was held Friday at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Northern California.Pabst was rescued from a shelter by Miles Egstad, of Citrus Heights. Egstad took home $1,600 in prize money, pet supplies and a modeling contract with House of Dog for Pabst.Pabst beat ...

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Updated: 9:01 PM GMT on June 29, 2009

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