John Wilden Hughes Jr. (February 18, 1950 – August 6, 2009), also known as Edmond Dantès, was an American filmmaker, comedian, and businessman. He is best known for writing, directing, and producing the films Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), Weird Science (1985), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), and Uncle Buck (1989), in addition to writing the films Pretty in Pink (1986), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Home Alone (1990), 101 Dalmatians (1996), and Flubber (1997). Widely considered an icon of the 1980s whose coming-of-age stories captured the teenage experience, Hughes set most of his films in Chicago, where he spent his teenage years. His work often combined slapstick comedy with heartfelt moments. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Hughes, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.