Motion-Picture Cinematographer. For 40 years he was one of Hollywood's top cameramen. Restlessly creative, he worked best with directors who challenged him, such as Rex Ingram, Preston Sturges, and Billy Wilder. Seitz helped develop the matte process of special-effects photography, and his signature use of intense low-key lighting greatly influenced the look of the film noir genre. He received seven Academy Award nominations, for "The Divine Lady" (1929), "Five Graves to Cairo" (1943), "Double Indemnity" (1944), "The Lost Weekend" (1945), "Sunset Boulevard" (1950), "When Worlds Collide" (1951), and "Rogue Cop" (1954). Seitz was born in Chicago. The younger brother of director George B. Seitz, he entered films at age 16 as a lab technician and graduated to cameraman in 1917. He first won note as a key collaborator of Rex Ingram, for whom he shot "The Conquering Power" (1921), "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1921), "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1922), "Scaramouche" (1923), "Where the Pavement Ends" (1923), "The Arab" (1924), "The Magician" (1926), and "Mare Nostrum" (1926). After lensing several Shirley Temple vehicles at Fox, Seitz moved to Paramount in 1940, where his visual style reached its mature zenith. His other credits include "East Lynne" (1930), "Curly Top" (1935), "The Littlest Rebel" (1935), "Poor Little Rich Girl" (1936), "Huckleberry Finn" (1939), "Sergeant Madden" (1939), "Sullivan's Travels" (1941), "This Gun for Hire" (1942), "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (1944), "Hail the Conquering Hero" (1944), "The Unseen" (1945), "The Big Clock" (1948), "Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (1948), "The Big Land" (1957), and "The Man in the Net" (1959). Seitz retired in 1960 to pursue independent lab experiments, and at the end of his life he held 18 patents for photographic inventions.
Motion-Picture Cinematographer. For 40 years he was one of Hollywood's top cameramen. Restlessly creative, he worked best with directors who challenged him, such as Rex Ingram, Preston Sturges, and Billy Wilder. Seitz helped develop the matte process of special-effects photography, and his signature use of intense low-key lighting greatly influenced the look of the film noir genre. He received seven Academy Award nominations, for "The Divine Lady" (1929), "Five Graves to Cairo" (1943), "Double Indemnity" (1944), "The Lost Weekend" (1945), "Sunset Boulevard" (1950), "When Worlds Collide" (1951), and "Rogue Cop" (1954). Seitz was born in Chicago. The younger brother of director George B. Seitz, he entered films at age 16 as a lab technician and graduated to cameraman in 1917. He first won note as a key collaborator of Rex Ingram, for whom he shot "The Conquering Power" (1921), "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1921), "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1922), "Scaramouche" (1923), "Where the Pavement Ends" (1923), "The Arab" (1924), "The Magician" (1926), and "Mare Nostrum" (1926). After lensing several Shirley Temple vehicles at Fox, Seitz moved to Paramount in 1940, where his visual style reached its mature zenith. His other credits include "East Lynne" (1930), "Curly Top" (1935), "The Littlest Rebel" (1935), "Poor Little Rich Girl" (1936), "Huckleberry Finn" (1939), "Sergeant Madden" (1939), "Sullivan's Travels" (1941), "This Gun for Hire" (1942), "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (1944), "Hail the Conquering Hero" (1944), "The Unseen" (1945), "The Big Clock" (1948), "Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (1948), "The Big Land" (1957), and "The Man in the Net" (1959). Seitz retired in 1960 to pursue independent lab experiments, and at the end of his life he held 18 patents for photographic inventions.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
Family Members
Advertisement
