Conrad Lafcadio Hall,
ASC (June 21,
1926 – January 4, 2003) was an American
cinematographer from Papeete
, Tahiti
, French
Polynesia
.
Named after writers
Joseph Conrad and
Lafcadio Hearn, he was best known for
photographing films, such as
Morituri,
The Professionals,
In Cold Blood,
Butch Cassidy and
the Sundance Kid,
The Day of the Locust,
Tequila Sunrise,
Searching for Bobby
Fischer,
A Civil
Action,
American
Beauty and
Road to
Perdition, which garned him several awards, including
three
Academy Awards and
BAFTA Awards.
Sam Mendes, the director of
Road to
Perdition dedicated the film to Hall.
Early life and career
Born in
Papeete, Tahiti, French
Polynesia, Hall was
the son of writer James Norman
Hall and Sarah (Lala) Winchester Hall, who was part-Polynesian. Hall attended the University of
Southern California
, intending to study journalism, but drifted instead to the
university's cinema school
, from which he graduated in 1949. He worked
on documentaries, in television (
The Outer Limits) and
minor films (including cult classic
Incubus), and as a studio camera
operator before moving up to cinematographer in major studio films
in the mid-1960s.
Hall received three
Academy Awards for Best
Cinematography for
Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid (1969),
American Beauty (1999), and
Road to Perdition (2002)
(the last two directed by friend
Sam
Mendes). The thirty-year gap between his first two Oscars is a
record for this award.
Additionally, Hall was nominated for
Morituri (1965),
The Professionals (1966),
In Cold Blood (1967),
The Day of the
Locust (1975),
Tequila Sunrise (1988),
Searching for Bobby
Fischer (1993), and
A Civil
Action (1998). Other credits include
Divorce American Style (1967),
Cool Hand Luke (1967),
The Day of the
Locust (1975),
Marathon
Man (1975) and
Love
Affair (1994).
Personal life
Hall has been married three times, to
Katharine Ross from 1969–1975, Virginia
Schwartz, whom he had three children with, and Susan Kowarsh-Hall
until his death. He has four sons,
Conrad
W. Hall, Nancy Hall Rutgers, an
actress, Kate Hall-Feist, also an actress and screenwriter, and
Naia Hall-West.
Death
Hall died in 2003 owing to complications from
bladder cancer at the
Santa Monica Hospital. His
Oscar for
Road to
Perdition (2002), which is dedicated to Hall, was
posthumous and was accepted by his son Conrad W. Hall, also a
cinematographer.
Hall was and still is affectionately referred to as "Connie" by his
peers and associates.
Filmography
Cinematographer
Television
References
External links
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