Oswald Morris

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 a factotum and clapper boy at Wembley Studios, which churned out quota quickies. The studio made one movie a week at a cost of one pound per foot of film. He left the studio in the spring of 1933 to go to work at British International Pictures at Elstree Studios, but soon returned to Wembley after it was taken over by Fox and became a camera assistant. In World War II, he served as a Royal Air Force bomber pilot, flying missions over France and Germany before being transferred to transport planes. After being demobilized, Morris joined Independent Producers at Pinewood Studios in January 1946, where he became a camera operator for director of photography Ronald Neame. When Neame became a director, he was promoted to d.p. on Golden Salamander (1950) (1950). He soon made his name shooting Moulin Rouge (1952) (1952) for John Huston, which was famous for its use of color suggesting the palette of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, the subject of the film. The British Society of Cinematographers awarded him its Best Cinematography Award for his work on the film. "Ossie" Morris had a distinguished career as a director of photography for 30 years, working with some of the top directors in English-language film, including Huston, Stanley Kubrick and Sidney Lumet. He was nominated three times for an Academy Award, for Oliver! (1968), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), and The Wiz (1978). He won an Oscar for "Fiddler" plus three BAFTA Awards and was honored with the International Award by the American Society of Cinematographers in 2000.