A celebration of Richard Attenborough’s remarkable life in the creative arts and public service

Lord Attenborough had a long association with the University of Sussex, from directing Oh! What a Lovely War in 1969 with the involvement of Sussex students, to becoming Pro-Chancellor in 1970 and then Chancellor from 1998 to 2008.  His children Jane and Michael also attended Sussex as did his niece, Sir David Attenborough’s daughter.

The Attenborough family has been part of the fabric of our institution almost from its outset and we remember and honour this legacy.

See Storify for our social media tributes to Lord Attenborough.

The Attenborough Portrait

The names of many of Richard’s former colleagues, friends and admirers are written into a remarkable typographic oil portrait of Lord Attenborough.The University commissioned Mike Edwards to create the painting which is created from the names of 200 individuals and organisations, each of whom donated generously towards the refurbishment of the Attenborough Centre.  The portrait will hang in the foyer of the Attenborough Centre when it opens its doors later in 2015. 

Richard’s son, the award winning theatre director Michael Attenborough was delighted by the project:  “My father's father was an extremely distinguished academic, his two younger brothers graduated from Cambridge, Dad instead went to RADA. So when, following my admission to Sussex, he was appointed first Pro Chancellor then Chancellor of the University, he finally felt (to his immense pleasure and relief!) that his education was complete and that my grandfather would finally be looking down with genuine pride.

His 10 years as Chancellor gave him great joy and satisfaction and I can tell you that he is hugely touched that the University's arts centre is now to be named after him - particularly as he was its very first Chairman back in 1970. 

The fact that so many of his close friends and colleagues have given so generously and added their distinguished names to his portrait is the most glorious icing on the cake. He and I are immensely grateful to each and every one of them."

Thank You

Attenborough Portrait donors and contributors - we say thank you:

Dame Judi Dench                                                             Sam Neill

Michael Douglas                                                               Lord Julian and Lady Emma Fellowes

Simon Kaye                                                                       BAFTA

Alan Grieve                                                                       Chelsea Football Club

Channel Four                                                                    Dame Maggie Smith

Sir Ben Kingsley                                                               Monkee McDonald

Kate Haste                                                                         Alan Folly

Michael Chowen                                                               Dr Brian Manley

Lord Robert Gavron                                                         Consuelo Brooke

Philip Parsons                                                                  Lord Richard and Lady Ruth Rogers

Professor Richard Dawkins and Lalla Ward                  Professor Fred Baylie

Adam Dewberry Esq                                                        Phyllida Stewart-Roberts

Lord Claus Moser                                                             Robert Caffyn

Rod and Carol Kedward                                                  Robert Downey Jr.

Terry Hayday                                                                    Pinewood Studios Group

Peter Brook and Natasha Parry                                      Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios

Twentieth Century Fox Studios                                      Kathryn Miao

William Goldman                                                              Martin Scorsese

Amy Wilson                                                                      Tara Croft

Corinne Tanjon                                                                John Coldstream

Rev. Geoffrey Whitfield                                                   Dr Nicholas Bankes

Dr Ed Suttie                                                                      Rachel Orr

Sir Tom Stoppard                                                            Simon Fanshawe

Sony Pictures Entertainment                                         Adrienne Drell

Sir David Attenborough                                                  Universal Studios

Denzel and Pauletta Washington                                   Warner Bros. Entertainment

Michael Ingram                                                                Gregory Slay

Sir Kenneth Branagh                                                       Sir Anthony and Lady Stella Hopkins

Lesley Walker                                                                   William Nicholson

Jonathan Klein                                                                Jonathan Catherwood

Judith Hasko                                                                   Douglas and Betty Kruse

Catherine Helen Kruse                                                   George Fenton

Joanna McPherson                                                         Ronnie Taylor

Debra Winger                                                                  Christian Brodie

Nanette Newman in memory of Bryan Forbes             Steven Spielberg

Sir John Major                                                                 Pamela Aslin

Professor Michael Farthing and Alison McLean         Jack Farthing

Tom Farthing                                                                   Catherine Moroz

John Bloom                                                                     Richard Eyre

Andrew Morgan                                                              David and Patsy Puttnam

Sir Ridley Scott                                                               Paul Greengrass

United Agents                                                                 Susan Goldfield

Ian Giles                                                                          Sarah Lambor

Caroline Waterfall                                                          The Mills family in memory of Sir John and Lady Mills

Dudley Moore                                                                 Kevin McNally

Sally and Gary Holden                                                   David and Patricia Jackson

Laurence John Ward                                                      Andrea Shallcross

Mary Connolly                                                                Stuart and Ping Bailey

Peter Worthington                                                          Maria Fiore Low

Rachel Lomas                                                                 Lyn Gorman (Chaffey)

Louise Ellis                                                                     Stephen Parsons

Pat Drake                                                                         John Eden-Green

Peter Carpenter                                                               Suzy Foster

Prof Hilary Buxton                                                           Peter Strugnell

Philip Lai                                                                           Christina Dale

Ian Moore                                                                          Dame Gail Rebuck

Kerim Akcay                                                                     Linda Ruth Williams

Emma Humphreys                                                           Dan Sherwood

Sharon Rosalind Metcalfe                                              Andrew R. Osborn "AllTheSpeeds"

Malcolm and Stuart Fraser                                             Jonathan Withers

Martin S. O'Neill                                                               David Denton

Robert K. Phillips                                                             Philip Livingstone

Kirsty P MacCalman                                                        Armelle Binns

Claire Goddard                                                                 Gina White

Celia Twining and David Fisher                                      Mark Robin Talalla

Dr Ann Ebeid                                                                    Naomi Rubin

Maggie Norden                                                                Sulaiman Ahmad Bah

Alan Montgomery                                                            Dr Iris Guske

National Film and Television School                            National Portrait Gallery

Lady Sheila Attenborough                                             Michael Attenborough

Charlotte Sinclair                                                            UNICEF

Karen Attenborough                                                       Tom Attenborough

Rachel Attenborough                                                      Will Attenborough

Graham Sinclair                                                               Toby Sinclair

Charlie Sinclair                                                                 Sam Holland

Camilla Holland                                                                 Alice Edwards

Oliver Edwards                                                                  Michael Holland

Marina Pedreira-Vilarino                                                  Wendy Snowdon

Ann and Ken Norman                                                      Helen McMurray

Ashley Pharoah                                                               Rupert Bravery

Dáda Cisařovská                                                             Naomi Burgess and Amit Sen

Celebrity Supporters of the Attenborough Portrait