Alan Parker
1 catalogued object connected to Alan Parker.
Biography
Person.
Alan Parker (1944–2020) was a British film director, writer and producer whose career moved with unusual ease between musicals, social drama, psychological horror and large-scale historical subjects. After beginning in advertising, where he belonged to a generation of British directors who brought cinematic storytelling into television commercials, Parker moved into long-form drama and wrote and directed his first feature, Bugsy Malone, in the mid-1970s.
His films include Midnight Express, Fame, Pink Floyd – The Wall, Birdy, Angel Heart, Mississippi Burning, The Commitments, Evita and Angela’s Ashes, a body of work that repeatedly combines strong visual design with music, performance and socially charged subject matter. Parker also became an important institutional figure in British film, serving as chairman of the BFI and later as the first chairman of the UK Film Council.
Reviewed 2026-08-19Selected sources
- Alan Parker — official biographyParker’s 1944 birth, advertising career, move into television and film, Bugsy Malone, Midnight Express, Fame, Mississippi Burning, The Commitments and major career honours.
- BFI — Sir Alan Parker (1944–2020)Parker’s major filmography, BFI and UK Film Council leadership, contribution to British cinema and 2020 death.
- The Face 1985 contents listingAlan Parker’s four-page feature in The Face No. 63, July 1985.