<p>Hughes was 59.<br /><br />The 'Brat Pack' director collapsed while taking a morning walk on the streets of Manhattan on Thursday, according to his spokeswoman.<br /><br />Hughes' first directorial effort, 'Sixteen Candles', had won almost unanimous praise when it was released in 1984, due to its realistic depiction of middle-class high school life.<br /><br />The film was the first of his string of comedies centered around high school life and teenagers.<br /><br />Hughes' greatest commercial success was 'Home Alone', a film he wrote and produced about a child accidentally left behind when his family goes away for Christmas, forcing him to protect himself and his house from a pair of inept burglars. 'Home Alone' would be the top grossing film of 1990, and remains his most successful live-action comedy of all time. His last film as a director was 'Curly Sue' in 1991.<br /><br />A father of two, Hughes stepped away from the limelight in the 1990s to run a farm in his native Illinois.<br /><br />He later penned the screenplays for Jennifer Lopez starrer rom-com 'Maid In Manhattan' in 2002.</p>
<p>Hughes was 59.<br /><br />The 'Brat Pack' director collapsed while taking a morning walk on the streets of Manhattan on Thursday, according to his spokeswoman.<br /><br />Hughes' first directorial effort, 'Sixteen Candles', had won almost unanimous praise when it was released in 1984, due to its realistic depiction of middle-class high school life.<br /><br />The film was the first of his string of comedies centered around high school life and teenagers.<br /><br />Hughes' greatest commercial success was 'Home Alone', a film he wrote and produced about a child accidentally left behind when his family goes away for Christmas, forcing him to protect himself and his house from a pair of inept burglars. 'Home Alone' would be the top grossing film of 1990, and remains his most successful live-action comedy of all time. His last film as a director was 'Curly Sue' in 1991.<br /><br />A father of two, Hughes stepped away from the limelight in the 1990s to run a farm in his native Illinois.<br /><br />He later penned the screenplays for Jennifer Lopez starrer rom-com 'Maid In Manhattan' in 2002.</p>