This person died in 2009, age 59. He began his career as an advertising copywriter in Chicago. While visiting New York during his advertising days, he hung around the offices of National Lampoon magazine and was published when he showed a gift for comedy. As a writer, he occasionally wrote under his pen name, Edmond Dantès, the real name of the Dumas hero in The Count of Monte Cristo. He faded from Hollywood in the early 1990s, and some surmised that he had stepped away simply because, for all his successes, he did not particularly like the film business. His greatest professional effect came from a series of teen-oriented films he directed in the 1980s, but his biggest success, in box-office terms, was the Home Alone series, of which he was the writer and a producer. Today’s dead celebrity is John Hughes.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 104 Community Gardener (Penny Marshall) and Episode 29 Zen Comedian (Garry Shandling).

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Evan Sherer and features guest co-host Jennifer Keishin Armstrong.

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

NYT obituary for John Hughes

Rare 1991 interview with John Hughes

NPR remembrance of John Hughes’s legacy

Ferris Bueller Fight Club theory

Ferris Bueller Groundhog Day theory

John Candy tribute montage

Dead or Alive quiz game

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Famous & Gravy official website

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Puberty Philosopher (John Hughes)

Famous and Gravy: Dead celebrity biographies