After spending several decades working as a character actor, Richard Attenborough (born 1923) gained worldwide recognition when he won an Oscar as best director for the motion picture Gandhi, which he also produced. In all, this labor of love, detailing the life of India's great spiritual leader, won eight Academy Awards, including best picture and best actor.

Attenborough's career in the arts dates back to the early 1940s when--after winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art--he appeared in productions of Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! and Noel Coward's wartime drama In Which We Serve. After parting from the academy in 1942, Attenborough played in a broad range of West End productions and acted in several films before embarking on his acclaimed profession as a director.

From Cambridge to the Theater

Richard Samuel Attenborough, the oldest of three sons, was born August 29, 1923, to Frederick Levi and Mary Clegg Attenborough...