John Hughes, one of Hollywood's most successful directors and screen writers, whose movies during the 1980s helped to define that era and became cultural touchstones, has died at age 59.

John Hughes.
AP Photo

John Hughes in 1984.

Hughes, who directed the "The Breakfast Club;" "Ferris Bueller's Day Off;" "Sixteen Candles", and "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," died of a heart attack during a walk while he visited family in Manhattan, according to reports.

I'll add more details as I get them.
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Update: Here's a story which provides more detail on Hughes' life and career. And Wikipedia has a very comprehensive page on Hughes that is worth consulting.

Variety also has a very informative article on Hughes. For instance, it makes Hughes sound like something of a prima dona.

 

An excerpt:

Bruce Berman, who was VP of production at Universal and president of production at Warners when Hughes made several films with those studios, told Daily Variety, "He was one of the most challenging relationships an exec could have, but one of the most fun, most talented and gifted." Berman said that although Hughes was one of the fastest writers in the biz — "He could write a draft over a weekend — he didn't like to be rewritten."

Few writers like to be re-written but not every writer makes himself a royal pain. Hughes sounds like he was of that persuasion.

The telling language in this quote is Berman's calling him "one of the most challenging relationships an exec could have." Considering Berman is talking about Hollywood, where execs must contend with actors and bankers and the like, it's really saying something that Berman calls Hughes difficult, in so many words.

But in the end, Hughes made successful movies. And that's all that really counts in a place as results-oriented as Hollywood.