World

Lord Richard Attenborough dies

09:40 am on 25 August 2014

British actor and film director Richard Attenborough has died at the age of 90.

Richard Attenborough at an English premiership football match in 2008. Photo: AFP

He died at lunchtime on Sunday, his son told BBC News.

Lord Attenborough was one of Britain's leading actors, before becoming a highly successful director.

In a career which spanned six decades, he appeared in films including Brighton Rock, World War II prisoner of war thriller The Great Escape and later in dinosaur blockbuster Jurassic Park.

As a director he was perhaps best known for Gandhi, which won two Oscars.

Lord Attenborough had been in a nursing home with his wife for a number of years, BBC arts editor Will Gompertz said.

He had been in a wheelchair since falling down stairs six years ago.