IEC's 100+ Greatest Cinematographers

1. John Alcott

Cinematographer | Barry Lyndon

John Alcott, the Oscar-winning cinematographer best known for his collaboration with director Stanley Kubrick, was born in 1931, in Isleworth, England, the son of movie executive Arthur Alcott, who would become the production controller at Gainsborough Studios during the 1940s.

Alcott began his film...

2. G.R. Aldo

Camera_department | La Belle et la Bête

Noted Italian cinematographer G.R. Aldo (born Aldo Graziati) began his film career as an actor in French films, but soon gave up that profession. He kept his hand in the film business, however, becoming a still photographer, a position he kept for nearly 20 years. His eye was always on becoming a ...

3. Henri Alekan

Cinematographer | Der Himmel über Berlin

Henri Alekan was born on February 10, 1909 in Paris, France. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Wings of Desire (1987), Roman Holiday (1953) and Beauty and the Beast (1946). He was married to Nadia Starcevic. He died on June 15, 2001 in Auxerre, Yonne, France.

4. Néstor Almendros

Cinematographer | Days of Heaven

One of the highest appraised contemporary cinematographers. He was born in Spain but moved to Cuba by age 18 to join his exiled anti-Franco father. In Havana, he founded a cineclub and wrote film reviews. Then, he went on to study in Rome at the Centro Sperimentale. He directed six shorts in Cuba ...

5. John A. Alonzo

Cinematographer | Chinatown

John A. Alonzo was born on June 12, 1934 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Chinatown (1974), The Magnificent Seven (1960) and Star Trek: Generations (1994). He was married to Suzanne L. Heltzel and Jan Murray. He died on March 13, 2001 in Beverly Hills, California...

6. John Alton

Camera_department | An American in Paris

Starting out in 1924 as a lab technician at MGM, John Alton left there for Paramount to become a cameraman. He traveled to France and then to South America, where he wrote, photographed and directed several Spanish-language films. Returning to Hollywood in 1937, he soon achieved a reputation as one...

7. Joseph H. August

Cinematographer | Portrait of Jennie

Renowned cinematographer Joseph August began his film career not as a cameraman but as a wrangler--he was born and raised in Colorado--at Inceville, the studio begun by pioneering producer/director Thomas H. Ince. He soon switched careers, becoming an assistant to cinematographer Ray C. Smallwood. ...

8. Lucien Ballard

Cinematographer | The Wild Bunch

Lucien Ballard, the cinematographer best known for his collaboration with director Sam Peckinpah on such films as The Wild Bunch (1969), was born in Miami, Oklahoma. Ballard became a wanderer after dropping out of the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania and the University of Oklahoma, journeying ...

9. George Barnes

Cinematographer | Rebecca

Veteran cinematographer George S. Barnes had a well-earned reputation for reliability and a knack for combining artistry with economic efficiency. As a result, he was seldom out of work.

Having started as a still photographer for Thomas H. Ince in 1918, Barnes quickly rose through the ranks to ...

10. Joseph F. Biroc

Camera_department | The Towering Inferno

Joseph Biroc was destined to become one of the most versatile cinematographers in Hollywood, working on films of almost every genre. He started as a lab assistant in 1918, based at Paragon Studio, located in America's first 'film capital', Ft.Lee, New Jersey. From there, he moved on to the ...

11. Elwood Bredell

Cinematographer | Man Made Monster

Indiana-born, son of stage actress Mary Palmer Nields and silent screen actor Val Paul (1886-1962), 'Woody' Bredell began his career in films as a lab technician. He worked as a still photographer at RKO and Paramount (1931-34), later joining Universal, as director of photography, 1937-46; then ...

12. Léonce-Henri Burel

Cinematographer | Journal d'un curé de campagne

Léonce-Henri Burel was born on November 23, 1892 in Indre, Loire-Atlantique, France. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Diary of a Country Priest (1951), A Man Escaped (1956) and Mother (1925). He died on March 21, 1977 in Mougins, Alpes-Maritimes, France.

13. Robert Burks

Cinematographer | Vertigo

The favorite cinematographer of legendary director Alfred Hitchcock began working at Warner Bros. when he was 19 years old. He climbed his way up from camera operator to assistant camera man and eventually took over the Special Photographic Effects unit at Warners on Stage 5 in 1944. He became an ...

14. Jack Cardiff

Cinematographer | Black Narcissus

Almost universally considered one of the greatest cinematographers of all time, Jack Cardiff was also a notable director. He described his childhood as very happy and his parents as quite loving. They performed in music hall as comedians, so he grew up with the fun that came with their theatrical ...

15. Christopher Challis

Cinematographer | Arabesque

Christopher was very keen on films when he was at school and made 16mm films so when his father met the managing director of Gaumont British News he was told to send the lad along resulting in him becoming a camera assistant,' sound was just starting to come in. A year later he was ferrying film ...

16. Ghislain Cloquet

Cinematographer | Tess

Ghislain Cloquet was born on April 18, 1924 in Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Tess (1979), Love and Death (1975) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967). He was married to Sonia Salvy-Matossian and Sophie Becker. He died on November 2, 1981 in Montainville,...

17. William H. Clothier

Cinematographer | The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

William H. Clothier was born on February 21, 1903 in Decatur, Illinois, USA. He was a cinematographer and producer, known for The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), The Alamo (1960) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). He was married to Carmen Clothier. He died on January 7, 1996 in Los Angeles, ...

18. Denys N. Coop

Visual_effects | Superman

Denys N. Coop was born on July 20, 1920 in Reading, Berkshire, England, UK. He was a cinematographer, known for Superman (1978), The Third Man (1949) and Superman II (1980). He died on August 16, 1981 in Hertfordshire, England, UK.

19. Stanley Cortez

Cinematographer | The Magnificent Ambersons

Stanley Cortez was born Samuel Krantz in New York City, New York, the son of Sarah (Lefkowitz) and Moses/Morris Krantz, Austrian Jewish immigrants. His famous actor brother, born Jacob Krantz, changed his name to Ricardo Cortez in order to acquire a more suitably romantic Hollywood image. Stanley ...

20. Raoul Coutard

Director | Hoa-Binh

Raoul Coutard was born on September 16, 1924 in Paris, France. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Hoa Binh (1970), Alphaville (1965) and Z (1969). He died on November 8, 2016 in Labenne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.

21. Jordan Cronenweth

Cinematographer | Blade Runner

Jordan Cronenweth was born on February 20, 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Blade Runner (1982), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and Altered States (1980). He was married to Carolyn June Ervin. He died on November 29, 1996 in Los Angeles, California, ...

22. Floyd Crosby

Cinematographer | High Noon

Floyd Delafield Crosby was born in 1899 to Fredrick Van Schoonhoven Crosby (1860-1920) and Julia Floyd Delafield (1874-1952). Floyd had one sibling, Katherine Van Rensselaer (Gregory). Floyd married Aliph Van Cortland Whitehead in 1940 and they had two children, Floyd Delafield Crosby (Ethan) in ...

23. Luis Cuadrado

Cinematographer | Hay que matar a B.

Luis Cuadrado was born in 1934 in Toro, Zamora, Castilla y León, Spain. He was a cinematographer and assistant director, known for Hay que matar a B. (1974), El amor del capitán Brando (1974) and La regenta (1974). He died on January 18, 1980 in Madrid, Spain.

24. William H. Daniels

Cinematographer | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Oscar-winning director of photography William Daniels was a master of black-and-white cinematographer most famous for the 21 films he shot that starred the immortal Greta Garbo between 1926 and 1939. Among the Gabro classics he lensed were The Torrent (1924), Flesh and the Devil (1926), Love (1927)...

25. Pasqualino De Santis

Cinematographer | Romeo and Juliet

Pasqualino De Santis was born on April 24, 1927 in Fondi, Lazio, Italy. He was a cinematographer, known for Romeo and Juliet (1968), Death in Venice (1971) and Three Brothers (1981). He died on June 23, 1996 in Lviv, Ukraine.

26. Henri Decaë

Cinematographer | The Boys from Brazil

Although Henri Decaë gained fame as a cinematographer, he actually entered the film industry as an editor and soundman. Serving as a cameraman in the French army during WW II, upon his release he began making documentaries and directing and photographing industrial and commercial films, then in ...

27. Tonino Delli Colli

Cinematographer | Der Name der Rose

Tonino Delli Colli was born on November 20, 1922 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for The Name of the Rose (1986), Life Is Beautiful (1997) and Once Upon a Time in America (1984). He was married to Alexandra Delli Colli. He died on August 16, 2005 in Rome, Lazio, ...

28. Carlo Di Palma

Cinematographer | Mighty Aphrodite

Carlo Di Palma was born on April 17, 1925 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Mighty Aphrodite (1995), Blow-Up (1966) and Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993). He was married to Adriana Chiesa Di Palma. He died on July 9, 2004 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

29. Gianni Di Venanzo

Cinematographer | 8½

Gianni Di Venanzo was born on December 18, 1920 in Teramo, Abruzzo, Italy. He was a cinematographer, known for 8½ (1963), The Girlfriends (1955) and Juliet of the Spirits (1965). He died on February 3, 1966 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

30. Arthur Edeson

Cinematographer | Casablanca

Arthur Edeson is an American cinematographer who was a pioneer of his craft. His career spanned four decades and encompassed many films now regarded as classics.

Born in New York in 1891, Edeson first worked as a still photographer. In 1911 he entered the movie business at Eclair Studios, a ...

31. Daniel L. Fapp

Cinematographer | West Side Story

American cinematographer who spent the bulk of his career at Paramount (1923-1959). After two years apprenticed in the studio lab, Fapp first worked the movie camera as an assistant in 1925. By 1941, he had graduated to full director of photography at the behest of cinematographer, turned director, ...

32. Gabriel Figueroa

Cinematographer | La perla

Gabriel Figueroa was born on April 24, 1907 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. He was a cinematographer, known for The Pearl (1947), The Young and the Damned (1950) and Maria Candelaria (1944). He died on April 27, 1997 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.

33. Gerry Fisher

Cinematographer | Highlander

Gerry Fisher was born on June 23, 1926 in London, England, UK. He was a cinematographer and producer, known for Highlander (1986), Victory (1981) and The Exorcist III (1990). He was married to Jean Hawkins. He died on December 2, 2014 in Reading, Berkshire, England, UK.

34. George J. Folsey

Cinematographer | Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Pioneer cinematographer George Folsey started out in 1914 as an errand boy with the Lasky Feature Play Company in New York. His introduction to camerawork came, when he was asked by cinematographer H. Lyman Broening to assist with post-production (tracking dissolve and fades for intercutting). By ...

35. Freddie Francis

Cinematographer | The Straight Story

During his last years at school he spent most of his time writing a thesis on 'the future of film' On leaving school he joined Gaumont British Studios at Lime Grove as an apprentice to a stills photographer for a year. He claimed this taught him more about the art of photography than any other form...

36. Karl Freund

Cinematographer | Metropolis

Karl Freund, an innovative director of photography responsible for development of the three-camera system used to shoot television situation comedies, was born on January 16, 1890, in the Bohemian city of Koeniginhof, then part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire (now known as Dvur Kralove in the Czech...

37. Lee Garmes

Cinematographer | Scarface

One of the most innovative of pioneer cameramen, Lee Garmes started his career on the East Coast with the New York Motion Picture Company, but was soon persuaded by the director Thomas H. Ince to join him in Hollywood. Garmes quickly climbed his way up the ladder, from painter's assistant to prop ...

38. Bert Glennon

Cinematographer | Stagecoach

While attending Stanford University in 1912, Bert Glennon was hired as an assistant cameraman, and, upon graduation, went into the film business full-time. Becoming a director of photography in 1916, Glennon became one of the industry's most respected craftsmen and worked often for such ...

39. Loyal Griggs

Cinematographer | Shane

Loyal Griggs entered the film industry in the mid-1920s, directly out of high school, as an assistant in the special effects department of Paramount. He was a cameraman for nearly 30 years before graduating to director of photography, and he proved his worth by winning an Academy Award for ...

40. Burnett Guffey

Cinematographer | Bonnie and Clyde

Entering films in 1923 as an assistant cameraman, Burnett Guffey was picked by John Ford to handle second-unit photography on The Iron Horse (1924). After that film, however, Guffey returned to his assistant cameraman position, a job he held until 1928, when he became a camera operator. In that ...

41. Conrad L. Hall

Cinematographer | Road to Perdition

Born in Tahiti, the son of writer James Norman Hall, author of "Mutiny on the Bounty," Conrad Hall studied filmmaking at USC. He and two classmates formed a production company and sold a project to a local television station. Hall's company branched out into making industrial films and TV ...

42. Ernest Haller

Cinematographer | Gone with the Wind

Distinguished American cinematographer Ernest Haller started in the industry in 1914 as an actor with Biograph after leaving his first job as a bank clerk. Within one year he discovered his true calling: being on the other side of the camera. By 1920, he had become a full director of photography ...

43. Otto Heller

Cinematographer | The Ipcress File

Pioneering Czech cinematographer Ota (later anglicised to 'Otto') Heller started as a cinema usher and then worked as a projectionist at a cinema in Prague. He first came to prominence as a military reporter and cameraman on the Italian Front during World War I and was subsequently involved in ...

44. Sidney Hickox

Cinematographer | To Have and Have Not

Hickox started out as assistant cameraman at the Manhattan Biograph Studios in 1915, followed by two years of wartime photographic work with the U.S. Naval Air Service. He joined First National after 1919, graduating to director of photography by 1927. When Warner Brothers absorbed that company in ...

45. Jack Hildyard

Cinematographer | The Bridge on the River Kwai

Jack Hildyard was a British cinematographer. He made several films with David Lean including The Sound Barrier (1952), Hobson's Choice (1954), and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

He also work in Another Time, Another Place (1958), ...

46. Gerald Hirschfeld

Cinematographer | Young Frankenstein

Gerald Hirschfeld was born on April 25, 1921 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Young Frankenstein (1974), Mr. Smith (1983) and The Car (1977). He was married to Julia Tucker and Sarnell Ogus. He died on February 13, 2017 in Ashland, Oregon, USA.

47. Winton C. Hoch

Cinematographer | The Quiet Man

Winton C. Hoch was born on July 31, 1905 in Storm Lake, Iowa, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for The Quiet Man (1952), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964) and The Searchers (1956). He died on March 20, 1979 in Santa Monica, California, USA.

48. Carl Hoffmann

Director | Die Leute mit dem Sonnenstich

Carl Hoffmann was born on June 9, 1885 in Neisse, Silesia, Germany [now Nysa, Opolskie, Poland]. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Die Leute mit dem Sonnenstich (1936), Looping the Loop (1928) and Der geheimnisvolle Spiegel (1928). He died on August 5, 1947 in Minden, North ...

49. James Wong Howe

Cinematographer | The Thin Man

Master cinematographer James Wong Howe, whose career stretched from silent pictures through the mid-'70s, was born Wong Tung Jim in Canton (now Guangzhou), China, on August 28, 1899, the son of Wong How. His father emigrated to America the year James was born, settling in Pasco, Washington, where ...

50. György Illés

Cinematographer | Szerelmes biciklisták

György Illés was born on November 2, 1914 in Eger, Heves megye, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Szerelmes biciklisták (1965), A 9-es kórterem (1955) and Szent Péter esernyöje (1958). He died on June 12, 2006 in Budapest, Hungary.

51. Boris Kaufman

Cinematographer | On the Waterfront

Boris Kaufman, the Oscar-winning cinematographer who shot Jean Vigo's oeuvre and helped introduce a neo-realistic style into American films, was born on August 24, 1897, in Bialystok, Poland, then part of the Russian Empire. The youngest son of librarians, the Soviet directors Denis Kaufman (a.k.a. ...

52. Robert Krasker

Cinematographer | The Third Man

A somewhat underrated figure in cinematographic history, Australian-born Robert Krasker handled some of the most memorable films made in Britain after the Second World War. In his youth he attended art classes in Paris and studied photography at the Photohaendler Schule in Dresden. He briefly ...

53. Charles Lang

Cinematographer | Sabrina

One of the outstanding cinematographers of Hollywood's Golden Age, Lang spent most of his career at Paramount (1929-1952), where he contributed to the studio's well-earned reputation for visual style. Lang was educated at Lincoln High School in L.A., then proceeded to the University of Southern ...

54. Joseph LaShelle

Cinematographer | Laura

Trained as an electrical engineer, Joseph LaShelle entered the film industry as a lab assistant with Paramount in 1920 in order to finance entry to Stanford University. Having worked his way up to superintendent of the Paramount printing room after three years, he decided to stay on. By 1925, he ...

55. Walter Lassally

Cinematographer | Alexis Zorbas

Walter Lassally was born on December 18, 1926 in Berlin, Germany. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Zorba the Greek (1964), Before Midnight (2013) and Heat and Dust (1983). He was married to Nadia Lassali. He died on October 23, 2017 in Crete, Greece.

56. Philip H. Lathrop

Cinematographer | Earthquake

Philip H. Lathrop was born on October 22, 1912 in Merced, California, USA. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Earthquake (1974), The Pink Panther (1963) and The Americanization of Emily (1964). He was married to Molly Lathrop and Betty Jo Lathrop. He died on April 12, 1995 in Los Angeles...

57. Charles Lawton Jr.

Cinematographer | The Lady from Shanghai

Charles Lawton Jr. was born on April 6, 1904 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for The Lady from Shanghai (1947), The Gallant Blade (1948) and 3:10 to Yuma (1957). He was married to Irene Thompson. He died on July 11, 1965 in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California...

58. Sam Leavitt

Cinematographer | Anatomy of a Murder

Sam Leavitt was born on February 6, 1904 in New York City, New York, USA. Sam was a cinematographer, known for Anatomy of a Murder (1959), The Defiant Ones (1958) and Cape Fear (1962). Sam died on March 21, 1984 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.

59. Lionel Lindon

Cinematographer | Around the World in Eighty Days

Lionel Lindon was born on September 2, 1905 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for Around the World in 80 Days (1956), The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and Going My Way (1944). He died on September 20, 1971 in Van Nuys, California, USA.

60. Jerzy Lipman

Cinematographer | Das falsche Gewicht

Jerzy Lipman was born on April 10, 1922 in Brzesc, Poleskie, Poland [now Brest, Belarus]. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Das falsche Gewicht (1971), Knife in the Water (1962) and Gangsterzy i filantropi (1963). He died on November 10, 1983 in London, England, UK.

61. Joseph MacDonald

Cinematographer | My Darling Clementine

Versatile Mexico City-born cinematographer Joseph Patrick MacDonald was initially trained as a mining engineer at the University of Southern California. He served a lengthy apprenticeship, starting as assistant cameraman at First National in the early 1920's before eventually graduating to first ...

62. Otello Martelli

Cinematographer | La dolce vita

Otello Martelli was born on May 19, 1902 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a cinematographer, known for La Dolce Vita (1960), The Road (1954) and Carne de horca (1953). He died on February 20, 2000 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

63. Rudolph Maté

Cinematographer | Gilda

One of the most respected cinematographers in the industry, Polish-born Rudolph Mate entered the film business after his graduation from the University of Budapest. He worked in Hungary as an assistant cameraman for Alexander Korda and later worked throughout Europe with noted cameraman Karl Freund...

64. Christian Matras

Cinematographer | La grande illusion

Christian Matras was born on December 29, 1903 in Valence, Drôme, Rhône-Alpes, France. He was a cinematographer and director, known for The Grand Illusion (1937), The Earrings of Madame De... (1953) and Le billet de logement (1932). He died on May 4, 1977 in Paris, France.

65. Ted D. McCord

Cinematographer | The Sound of Music

Ted McCord learned his craft "on the job" as a camera assistant at Hobart Bosworth Productions in 1917. His first credited film as full-fledged cinematographer was Sacred and Profane Love (1921), billing himself as "T.D.McCord". During the '20s he worked on a wide variety of subjects, from romantic...

66. William C. Mellor

Cinematographer | A Place in the Sun

Mellor began his career in the photographic labs at Paramount in the mid-20's. By 1934, he had graduated to full-time director of photography, working primarily on the studio's lesser productions. At the same time, he continued to serve his apprenticeship by assisting veteran cinematographer Victor...

67. Russell Metty

Cinematographer | Spartacus

Cinematographer Russell Metty, a superb craftsman who worked with such top directors as John Huston, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg and Orson Welles, was born in Los Angeles on September 20, 1906. Entering the movie industry as a lab assistant, he apprenticed as an assistant cameraman and ...

68. Arthur C. Miller

Cinematographer | How Green Was My Valley

Arthur was known as one of Hollywood's most accomplished lighting cameramen, a master at black and white cinematography. Miller began his career at 13, serving as an assistant to cinematographer Fred J. Balshofer. (They co-authored a book entitled "Two Reels and a Crank" in 1967.) Miller ...

69. Subrata Mitra

Cinematographer | Pather Panchali

From 1997 until his death, Subrata Mitra taught cinematography at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) at Kolkata, India. Subrata Mitra won the National Award for his work in Ramesh Sharma's New Delhi Times in 1985, and the Eastman Kodak Lifetime Achievement for Excellence in ...

70. Kazuo Miyagawa

Cinematographer | Yôjinbô

Kazuo Miyagawa was born on February 25, 1908 in Kyoto, Japan. He was a cinematographer, known for Yojimbo (1961), Rashomon (1950) and Brother (1960). He was married to Kazuko ?. He died on August 7, 1999 in Tokyo, Japan.

71. Hal Mohr

Cinematographer | Phantom of the Opera

Distinguished pioneering cinematographer who had a career in motion pictures lasting six-decades. As a teenager, Hal built his own camera while still at school and took photos of local interest which he then developed and printed. He sent a number of these pictures to the New York Herald-Tribune ...

72. Oswald Morris

Cinematographer | Fiddler on the Roof

Oscar-winning cinematography Oswald Morris was one of the most outstanding directors of photography of the 20th Century, making his reputation by expanding the parameters of color cinematography. Born in November 1915 in Hillingdon, Middlesex, England, a month short of his 17th birthday, he became ...

73. Andrey Moskvin

Cinematographer | Ivan Groznyy

Andrey Moskvin was born on February 14, 1901 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a cinematographer, known for Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944), Pirogov (1947) and Aktrisa (1943). He died on February 28, 1961 in Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia].

74. Nicholas Musuraca

Cinematographer | Out of the Past

Italian-born Nicholas Musuraca's first job in the film business was as a chauffeur to early pioneering producer/director J. Stuart Blackton. Having a knack for photography, he worked behind the cameras in a variety of jobs before finally becoming a cinematographer (or, as they were called in those ...

75. Asakazu Nakai

Cinematographer | Ran

Asakazu Nakai was born on August 29, 1901 in Kobe, Japan. He was a cinematographer, known for Ran (1985), Stray Dog (1949) and Seven Samurai (1954). He died on February 28, 1988.

76. Sven Nykvist

Cinematographer | The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Sven Nykvist was considered by many in the industry to be one of the world's greatest cinematographers. During his long career that spanned almost half a century, Nyvist perfected the art of cinematography to its most simple attributes, and he helped give the films he had worked on the simplest and...

77. Arthur J. Ornitz

Cinematographer | Death Wish

Arthur J. Ornitz was born on November 28, 1916 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Death Wish (1974), Serpico (1973) and Hanky Panky (1982). He died on July 10, 1985 in New York City, New York, USA.

78. Georges Périnal

Camera_department | The Thief of Bagdad

Georges Périnal was born in 1897 in Paris, France. He was a cinematographer, known for The Thief of Bagdad (1940), The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) and Under the Roofs of Paris (1930). He died on April 23, 1965 in London, England, UK.

79. Franz Planer

Cinematographer | Roman Holiday

Descended from a wealthy family of landowners in what was then Austria-Hungary, Franz Planer understood the importance of photography as an art form early in his life. He first stood behind the camera as a portrait photographer, working out of Vienna from 1910. He soon branched out, filming ...

80. Sol Polito

Cinematographer | The Adventures of Robin Hood

Sol Polito, the Oscar-nominated cinematographer who helped create the distinct visual character of Warner Bros. films in the 1930s and 1940s, was born Salvador Polito on November 12, 1892, in Palermo, Sicily. While still young he emigrated to the US with his family, which settled in New York City, ...

81. Owen Roizman

Cinematographer | The French Connection

Ace cinematographer Owen Roizman was born September 22, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York. His father Sol was a cinematographer for Fox Movietone News and his uncle Morrie Roizman was a film editor. Owen studied math and physics at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. He began his career shooting TV ...

82. Charles Rosher

Cinematographer | Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Among the foremost technical innovators in his field, a charter member of the American Society of Cinematographers, English-born Charles Rosher had initially aimed for a diplomatic career. Fortunately, he chose a different career option and attended lessons in photography at the London Polytechnic ...

83. Harold Rosson

Cinematographer | The Asphalt Jungle

Harold G. "Hal" Rosson, a cinematographer known for his subtle and imaginative lighting, was born in Genaseo, New York, on August 24, 1895, although some sources cite his birthday as April 6, 1895, or in 1889.

Rosson entered the movie industry in 1908 as an actor at the Vitagraph Studios in Brooklyn...

84. Giuseppe Rotunno

Cinematographer | All That Jazz

Giuseppe 'Peppino' Rotunno entered the film industry as a still photographer at Cinecitta but lost his job due to his anti-fascist views. Conscripted and sent to Greece in 1942, he then served as a newsreel cameraman with the Italian army film unit. A year later, he was captured during the German ...

85. Joseph Ruttenberg

Cinematographer | Gaslight

Four-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1893, at the age of four, his family moved to the United States, eventually settling in Boston. After schooling, he got his first job in 1907 working as a newsboy and personal runner for William ...

86. Eugen Schüfftan

Cinematographer | The Hustler

Eugen Schüfftan moved from his motherland, Germany, to France in 1933 to escape the rising Nazi movement. He moved to the US in 1940 and became a member of Local 644, the East Coast cinematographers chapter of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). He invented the ...

87. Guido Seeber

Cinematographer | Die lustigen Musikanten

Guido Seeber was born on June 22, 1879 in Chemnitz, Germany. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Laubenkolonie (1930), Alraune und der Golem (1919) and The Student of Prague (1913). He was married to Meta Lina Fritzsche. He died on July 2, 1940 in Berlin, Germany.

88. John F. Seitz

Cinematographer | Double Indemnity

Distinguished veteran cinematographer John F. Seitz had eighteen patents for various photographic processes to his name. These included illuminating devices, processes for making dissolves and the matte shot, which he perfected during filming of Rex Ingram's Trifling Women (1922). Seitz started ...

89. Leon Shamroy

Cinematographer | Cleopatra

Leon Shamroy, born Leon Shamroyevsky, was an American film cinematographer. He is best known for The Black Swan (1942),Wilson (1944), Leave Her to Heaven (1945), David and Bathsheba (1951), The Robe (1953), Cleopatra (1963), The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) and Planet of the Apes (1968).

He and ...

90. Douglas Slocombe

Cinematographer | Rollerball

London-born Douglas Slocombe has long been regarded as one of the film industry's premiere cinematographers, but he began his career as a photojournalist for Life magazine and the Paris-Match newspaper before World War II. During the war he became a newsreel cameraman, and at war's end he went to ...

91. Harry Stradling Sr.

Cinematographer | My Fair Lady

Multi-Academy Award-nominated cinematographer (13 in all), Harry Stradling was unique in that he established his reputation both in America and in Europe. He was the nephew of Mary Pickford's cameraman Walter Stradling, who provided the connections for his first job in Hollywood. Walter died in ...

92. Karl Struss

Cinematographer | Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Oscar-winning cinematographer Karl Struss was born on November 30, 1886, in New York City. He became a professional photographer after studying photography with Clarence H. White and became part of the group associated with the great photographer Alfred Stieglitz. His photographs, which he ...

93. Robert Surtees

Cinematographer | Ben-Hur

Robert L. Surtees began his working life as a portrait photographer and retoucher, before becoming camera assistant at Universal in 1927. He spent a lengthy apprenticeship (15 years) working under such experienced cinematographers as Hal Mohr, Joseph Ruttenberg and Gregg Toland. Between 1929 and ...

94. Gilbert Taylor

Cinematographer | Star Wars

Gilbert Taylor was born on April 21, 1914 in Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire, England, UK. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Flash Gordon (1980) and The Omen (1976). He was married to Dee Vaughan and Eileen Donnelly. He died on August 23, 2013 ...

95. Eduard Tisse

Cinematographer | Ivan Groznyy

Eduard Tisse was born on April 13, 1897 in Libava, Grobina uyezd, Courland Governorate, Russian Empire [now Liepaja, Latvia]. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944), Battleship Potemkin (1925) and The Immortal Garrison (1956). He died on November 18, 1961 ...

96. Gregg Toland

Cinematographer | Citizen Kane

Born in Illinois in 1904, the only child of Jennie and Frank Toland, Gregg and his mother moved to California several years after his parents divorced in 1910. Through Jennie's work as a housekeeper for several people in the movie business, Gregg may had gotten a $12-a-week job at age 15 as an ...

97. Aldo Tonti

Cinematographer | The Savage Innocents

Aldo Tonti was born on March 2, 1910 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for The Savage Innocents (1960), Nights of Cabiria (1957) and Tempest (1958). He died on July 7, 1988 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

98. Geoffrey Unsworth

Cinematographer | Cabaret

Goeffrey Unsworth was one of the great cinematographers of the 20th Century, the winner of two Oscars, five BAFTA awards, and three awards from the British Society of Cinematographers for his work as a director of photography. Born in 1914 in Lancashire, England, Unsworth started in the industry in...

99. Sacha Vierny

Cinematographer | The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover

Sacha Vierny was born on August 10, 1919 in Bois-le-Roi, Seine-et-Marne, France. He was a cinematographer and assistant director, known for The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), The Pillow Book (1995) and Belle de Jour (1967). He died on May 15, 2001 in Vannes, Morbihan, France.

100. Fritz Arno Wagner

Cinematographer | M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder

Regarded as one of the foremost exponents of cinematic expressionism in the 1920's, Fritz Arno Wagner was trained at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris and began in the film industry working for Pathé Freres in 1910. Within just two years, he was promoted to head Pathé's offices in Vienna, and, ...