Alan Parker, Oscar nominated director of ‘Mississippi Burning’ and ‘Midnight Express’, dead at 76

Parker in 2003 — Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage(LONDON) — Alan Parker, the British writer-director behind movies including FameBugsy Malone, and Mississippi Burning died Friday after a lengthy illness, according to The Hollywood Reporter

He was 76.

A versatile filmmaker, Parker was known for moving fluidly through various genres — from the Civil Rights struggle-themed Mississippi Burning through lighter, more musical-oriented movies including 1980’s Fame, 1982’s mind-bending Pink Floyd: The Wall, the beloved 1991 film The Commitments, and Madonna’s big screen adaptation of Evita in 1996. 

Parker was nominated for a Best Film Academy Award twice, once for Mississippi Burning, and once for Oliver Stone’s 1978 locked-up-abroad drug drama Midnight Express.

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