Jack Cardiff

Cardiff also proved equally adept working in black-and-white as evidenced by George Stevens' "The Diary of Anne Frank" (1959). He moved to the director's chair and helmed an adaptation of D. H. Lawrence's autobiographical novel, "Sons and Lovers" (1960), which featured superb camerawork by Freddie Francis. For his work, Cardiff earned a Best Director Oscar nomination and his career seemed to be poised for bigger and better things, but his subsequent efforts proved run-of-the mill. By the late 1960s, he had effectively retired, but Kirk Douglas persuaded him to return as a cinematographer on Douglas' directorial debut, "Scalawag" (1973). Since Cardiff had proved a master of Technicolor, a process that had fallen out of favor, most of his later work - while well shot - was inferior to his earlier efforts. He retired a second time in 1990 but published a memoir, Magic Hour: The Life of a Cameraman in 1996. In 2000, he was made an Officer of the OBE (Order of the British Empire) and a year later, at age 86, was given an honorary lifetime achievement Academy Award - the first technician to be given the honor. Cardiff, who spent over 90 years in the business, died on April 22, 2009 at the age of 94.