Quick, think of your favorite John Hughes movie. Do you have more than one? The iconic director captured the essence of what it meant to be a teenager fighting for a sense of place in a world full of adults who didn’t have the time, focus, or memory to understand the angst.
I lived in a suburb of Chicago when I was young, so Hughes’ movies always had some added nostalgia for me. Most of us associate John Hughes with Chicago. The suburbs, the high‑school hallways, and the unmistakable 1980s energy that shaped films like The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
But did you know that John Hughes has a connection to Arizona? Tucked into his biography is a lesser‑known chapter: Hughes spent part of his college years at Arizona State University. Now I’m an even bigger fan! One of Hollywood’s most influential storytellers spent some time attending one of Arizona’s biggest state colleges, ASU!
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John Hughes’s Link to Arizona
I was surprised and delighted to learn that director John Hughes attended the University of Arizona before leaving to pursue writing full‑time, and long before he directed some of the most beloved films of the late 20th century.
Hughes was only in Arizona for a short time, but his films and deep understanding of adolescece has touched generations of teens.
READ: 5 Things That Will Make You Love Arizona
John Hughes Filmography
Hughes’ filmography captures the late 1980s and 90s in a cinematic time capsule:Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck, andHome Alone, among many others…