Hollywood film director and writer John Hughes, who made a series of adolescent comedies like "Home Alone" and "The Breakfast Club", died Thursday of a heart attack in New York City. He was 59.

Hughes' spokeswoman Michelle Bega said he died of a heart attack during a morning walk in Manhattan. He was in New York to visit family.

A native of Lansing, Michigan, Hughes later moved to suburban Chicago and set much of his work there. His films are free of violence and mainly about topics close to adolescent life, such as skipping classes, puppy love, and relations with parents.

His first directorial effort, "Sixteen Candles", made a hit when it was released in 1984, due in no small part to its more realistic depiction of middle-class high school life. It was also the first in a string of efforts set in or around high school, including "The Breakfast Club", "Pretty in Pink", "Weird Science" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off".

Hughes's greatest commercial success came with "Home Alone", a film he wrote and produced about a child accidentally left behind when his family goes away for a Christmas vacation, who has to protect himself and his house from a pair of inept burglars.

"Home Alone" would be the top grossing film in the year of 1990, and remained his most successful live-action comedy of all time.

Many consider his films to be standard-bearers of the teen genre that explore American adolescent behavior with warmth and affection.

In 1994, Hughes withdrew from public life. His last directing film was "Curly Sue" in 1991.

(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2009)