Alan Parker, Director of ‘Bugsy Malone,’ ‘Midnight Express,’ Dies at 76

Alan Parker, the British director whose exceptionally wide-ranging oeuvre ranged from “Bugsy Malone” to “Evita,” from “Midnight Express” to “The Road to Wellville,” has died. He was 76.

The British Film Institute confirmed Parker’s death on Friday, noting he died after a long illness.

Parker was twice Oscar-nominated for best director, for 1978’s “Midnight Express” and for 1988’s ‘Mississippi Burning.” While the director’s subject matter was eclectic, he did return frequently to the musical form: His films “Bugsy Malone,” “Fame,” “Pink Floyd the Wall,” “The Commitments” and “Evita” were all musicals or had strong musical elements in one form or another.

Parker’s first feature film, 1976’s “Bugsy Malone,” made a considerable splash for an audacious concept that worked only because everyone kept a straight face. The film was a Depression-era gangster musical cast entirely with children, the oldest perhaps 15. These included Jodie Foster and Scott Baio. Instead of bullets, the machine guns sprayed whipped cream. The New York Times said: “That custard pies can maim and whipped cream should kill are only two of the ways in which some basic laws of the cinema are cheerfully junked in this wildly uneven but imaginative and stylish satire of 1920’s gangster movies. … which also includes a first-rate musical score and choreography, along with a cast of kids.” “Bugsy Malone” was the first of five Parker films nominated for Cannes’ Palme d’Or.

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