--- name: "Richard Marquand" canonical: "https://film.one/person/richard-marquand" fi1m_id: "richard-marquand" imdb_id: "nm0549658" tmdb_id: 19800 wikidata_id: "Q471402" roles: ["Director"] born: "22 September 1937" died: "4 September 1987" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "director" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-17T23:13:22.167516+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Richard Marquand ## Identity Richard Marquand - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/richard-marquand - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** richard-marquand - **IMDb ID:** nm0549658 - **TMDB ID:** 19800 - **Wikidata ID:** Q471402 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Marquand, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q471402, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0549658/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/19800 Director. Born 22 September 1937 in Cardiff, Wales, UK. Died 4 September 1987. ## Details - **Work:** Director - **Born:** 22 September 1937, Cardiff, Wales, UK - **Died:** 4 September 1987 - **Also known as:** Richard Alfred Marquand - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Marquand, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q471402, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0549658/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/19800 ## Streaming the US now - **Disney+:** [*Return of the Jedi*](https://film.one/film/return-of-the-jedi.md) (75) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Richard Marquand > Richard Marquand favoured simple staging and trusted actors to make an adventure matter. We value the conviction and good fun of *Return of the Jedi*, while wishing he had been firmer about keeping it moving. Mark Hamill keeps us interested in *Return of the Jedi* (1983) even when the adventure slows. Marquand gives its creatures and chases room, and there is pleasure in a director allowing that kind of entertainment to be enough. We enjoyed those stretches, then grew impatient with the time lavished on the Ewoks. This is good adventure filmmaking with some slack passages, and Hamill's conviction does useful work when the writing has less to offer. His route into features ran through television documentaries and series, followed by the supernatural thriller *The Legacy* (1978). His handling of suspense and performance found a suitable home in *Eye of the Needle* (1981), the film that led George Lucas to choose him for *Return of the Jedi*. He followed that with *Until September* (1984) and the courtroom thriller *Jagged Edge* (1985). These changes of subject make more sense when we consider his preference for working closely with actors and keeping camera set-ups simple and static. On *Jedi*, Lucas was producer and creative overseer as well as co-writer with Lawrence Kasdan, so Marquand's contribution needs to be considered alongside theirs. Their screenplay handles immediate danger more confidently than the passages linking one episode to another. Marquand is also trying to conclude a trilogy without losing its appetite for creatures, chases and jokes, and that leaves him with plenty to accommodate. The romance is thin, particularly disappointing in the work of someone drawn to friendship, loyalty and trust. Marquand's simple staging is worth valuing, particularly when so much depends on an actor making an improbable adventure convincing. We would still ask for a firmer pace and more convincing relationships before calling his approach consistently successful. Start with *Jedi* for the adventure, then try *Eye of the Needle* to see his handling of suspense away from the demands of concluding a trilogy. ## Biography Richard Alfred Marquand (22 September 1937 – 4 September 1987) was a Welsh film and television director. Born in Llanishen, Cardiff, he studied modern languages at King's College, Cambridge, and began his career directing documentaries and dramas for the BBC. Marquand moved into feature films with *The Legacy* (1978) and gained attention for the thriller *Eye of the Needle* (1981). He directed *Return of the Jedi* (1983), the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, and later *Jagged Edge* (1985). He also directed *Birth of the Beatles* (1979) and *Until September* (1984). For his work on *Return of the Jedi*, Marquand received a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1984. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *Return of the Jedi* (1983), Fi1m 75, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/return-of-the-jedi.md) ## Complete filmography (20) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Nowhere to Run* (1993), Story - *Hearts of Fire* (1987), Director - *Jagged Edge* (1985), Director - *Until September* (1984), Director - *Return of the Jedi* (1983), as Maj. Marquand - AT-ST Driver / EV-9D9 (voice) (uncredited) · Director — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/return-of-the-jedi.md) - *Eye of the Needle* (1981), Director - *Birth of the Beatles* (1979), Director - *The Legacy* (1978), Director - *Street of Joy* (1976), Director, Producer - *Pyramid Lake Is Dying* (1976), Director, Producer - *Zap!! The Weapon Is Food* (1976), Director, Producer - *NBC Special Treat* (1975), series, Director - *To Know Us Is To Love Us* (1975), Director, Producer - *Mr Nixon's Secret Legacy* (1975), Director, Producer - *Between the Anvil and the Hammer* (1973), Director - *The Iron Village* (1973), Director - *The Search for the Nile* (1971), series, Director - *Edward II* (1970), Co-Director - *E.M. Forster 1879-1970* (1970), Actor - *One Pair of Eyes* (1967), series, Director ## Awards ### Other awards — 1 won - Hugo Awards 1984: Best Dramatic Presentation (won), for *Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/richard-marquand