A writer, director and producer who redefined the "teen movie" genre in the 1980s with a string of now-iconic coming-of-age films, John Hughes was born Feb. 18, 1950, in Lansing, Mich., and grew up in Northbrook, Ill., where he set many of his best-loved pictures.

Though he never won any of the movie industry's major awards, Hughes tapped into universal truths about being a teenager with films such as Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985) and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) -- and young audiences loved him for it. In addition, he helped propel young actors Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Matthew Broderick and Judd Nelson into the Hollywood mainstream.

Hughes also penned the screenplays for the family comedies Uncle Buck (1989) and Home Alone (1990) as well as the comedy classics National Lampoon's Vacation and Mr. Mom (both 1983). He died of a heart attack Aug. 6, 2009.