Academy Award-winner Richard Attenborough died today, according to the BBC. The British actor/director had been in a wheelchair after falling down stairs six years ago and had spent several years in a nursing home along with his wife. He was 90.

Though he’s had a successful career that’s spanned over 70 years, Attenborough is best remembered to recent generations for his role in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park, where he starred as John Hammond, the billionaire behind the dinosaur theme park on Isla Nublar. The actor, who reprised his role for the 1997 sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, speaks the famous line, “Welcome to Jurassic Park.” He also played Kris Kringle in the 1994 reboot of the Christmas classic, Miracle on 34th Street and starred in the 1963 war film The Great Escape.

Along with acting, Lord Attenborough, who was born in Cambridge, England, on August 29, 1923, was also a director. He directed Gandhi, the biographical film about the life of Mohandas Gandhi; the 1982 movie went on to win 8 of the 11 Academy Awards it was nominated for, including Best Director and Best Picture.

Attenborough, who married his wife Stella in 1945 and had three children with her, is brother to famous naturalist David Attenborough and Alfa Romeo executive John Attenborough, who passed away in 2012.

RIP Richard Attenborough
August 29, 1923 – August 24, 2014

[Source: BBC]