Robert Surtees
Highest Rated: 100% The Last Picture Show (1971)
Lowest Rated: Not Available
Birthday: Aug 9, 1906
Birthplace: Covington, Kentucky, USA
One of the most versatile cinematographers in film history, Robert L Surtees came up through the studio system, beginning as an assistant cameraman to Gregg Toland and Joseph Ruttenberg at Universal in the late 1920s before moving to MGM and establishing himself as a top-flight director of photography. Constantly keeping abreast of cutting-edge technology, he came to specialize in lush, vibrant, widescreen color lensing, but he also distinguished himself in black and white, winning his second Academy Award for "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952) and returning triumphantly to it for Peter Bogdanovich's "The Last Picture Show" (1971), capitalizing on a deep focus not permitted by color to make the dusty plains and small town locations seem all the more desolate. Between 1944 and 1978, he received 16 Oscar nominations, twice competing with himself in the same category, and though his three wins came during his tenure at MGM, he enjoyed equal success as a freelance artist, collecting 10 nominations in the employ of other studios.
Photos
Filmography
Movies
| Credit | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35% | 63% | A Star Is Born | Cinematography | - | 1976 |
| 36% | 38% | The Hindenburg | Cinematography | - | 1975 |
| 80% | 88% | The Cowboys | Cinematography | - | 1972 |
| 79% | 72% | Summer of '42 | Cinematography | - | 1971 |
| 100% | 90% | The Last Picture Show | Cinematography | - | 1971 |
| 86% | 73% | Sweet Charity | Cinematography | - | 1969 |
| 87% | 90% | The Graduate | Cinematography | $285.8K | 1967 |
| 27% | 57% | Doctor Dolittle | Cinematography | - | 1967 |
| No Score Yet | 47% | Lost Command | Cinematography | - | 1966 |
| 89% | 73% | The Chase | Cinematography | - | 1966 |
| 50% | 44% | The Satan Bug | Cinematography | - | 1965 |
| 70% | 73% | Mutiny on the Bounty | Cinematography | - | 1962 |
| 0% | 57% | It Started in Naples | Cinematography | - | 1960 |
| 85% | 89% | Ben-Hur | Cinematography | - | 1959 |
| No Score Yet | 43% | Tribute to a Bad Man | Cinematography | - | 1956 |
| 86% | 75% | Oklahoma! | Cinematography | - | 1955 |
| 50% | 77% | The Long, Long Trailer | Cinematography | - | 1954 |
| 77% | 55% | Mogambo | Cinematography | - | 1953 |
| No Score Yet | 40% | The Wild North | Cinematography | - | 1952 |
| 79% | 86% | The Bad and the Beautiful | Cinematography | - | 1952 |
| No Score Yet | 56% | The Merry Widow | Cinematography | - | 1952 |
| 83% | 73% | Quo Vadis? | Cinematography | - | 1951 |
| No Score Yet | 50% | The Strip | Cinematography | - | 1951 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Big Jack | Cinematography | - | 1949 |
| 92% | 76% | Act of Violence | Cinematography | - | 1949 |
| No Score Yet | 54% | Tenth Avenue Angel | Cinematography | - | 1948 |
| 57% | 51% | A Date With Judy | Cinematography | - | 1948 |
| 67% | 17% | The Unfinished Dance | Cinematography | - | 1947 |
| No Score Yet | 50% | Two Sisters From Boston | Cinematography | - | 1946 |
| No Score Yet | 64% | Music for Millions | Cinematography | - | 1944 |
| No Score Yet | 20% | Meet the People | Cinematography | - | 1944 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Don't You Believe It | Cinematography | - | 1943 |