Oscar Winner Conrad L. Hall Dies at 76
Sun Jan 5, 8:53 PM ET


By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES - Cinematographer Conrad L. Hall, a master artist of the camera who was nominated for nine Oscars and won two, has died. He was 76.

Hall died Saturday at a Santa Monica hospital of complications of bladder cancer, said his wife, Susan Hall.

Considered an expert in the use of light, Hall filmed nearly three dozen movies in a career that stretched 50 years. He won Academy Awards for 1969's "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and 1999's "American Beauty."

"Every film that he worked on was something beautiful to the eye, and very imaginative," said producer Richard Zanuck, who was head of production at Twentieth Century Fox when Hall made "Butch Cassidy" and worked with him on last year's Irish-American mob tale, "Road to Perdition."

"With 'Road to Perdition' you could virtually take every frame of his work and blow it up and hang it over your fireplace. It was like Rembrandt at work," Zanuck said. "Connie was not known for speed, but neither was Rembrandt. He was known for incredible genius."

Hall's other films included "The Professionals" (1966), "In Cold Blood" (1967), "The Day of the Locust" (1975) and "Searching for Bobby Fischer" (1993).

He shot in black and white and color, evoking chilly realism in "In Cold Blood" and color-soaked surrealism in "American Beauty." He struggled at first with that film, Sam Mendes (news)' dark, absurd portrait of a dysfunctional family, Hall once told an interviewer.

"I kept asking Sam, 'How are we going to light these people? They're all so unlikable.' ... But everybody deserves a little light, don't they?" he said.

The film's rich images, including hypnotic shots of cascading red rose petals, helped it win five Oscars, including best picture and best cinematography.

"Light was his friend and he could use as much or as little of it as he thought was fitting for the scene he was doing or the shot he was doing," Zanuck said. "He was a master of subtlety."

His many honors included a lifetime achievement award from the American Society of Cinematography in 1994 and an outstanding achievement award in 1988 for "Tequila Sunrise." He served last year as Kodak cinematographer in residence at the University of California, Los Angeles' School of Theater, Film and Television.

Hall was to be honored later this month with a lifetime achievement award from the National Board of Review, Susan Hall said.

Born and raised in Tahiti, Hall was the son of James Norman Hall, co-author of the novels "Mutiny on the Bounty" and "The Hurricane." He initially wanted to go into journalism, but after doing poorly in a creative writing class at the University of Southern California he looked for a new major by flipping through the course catalogue, he told the Los Angeles Times last year.

"It started with A for astronomy, B for biology and C for cinema. I thought 'Cinema? You mean like movies? Rubbing elbows with stars? Making all that money?' For all the wrong reasons, I signed up, and then had a love affair with the visual language and learned to tell stories like my dad," Hall said.

Hall's son, Conrad W. Hall, followed him in the profession, most recently filming "Panic Room."

Filmography: in bold are some of my favorites..
1. Road to Perdition (2002)
2. American Beauty (1999)
3. Civil Action, A (1998)
4. Without Limits (1998)
5. Love Affair (1994)
6. Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
7. Jennifer Eight (1992)
8. Class Action (1991)
9. Tequila Sunrise (1988)
10. Black Widow (1987)
11. It Happened One Christmas (1977) (TV)(as Conrad Hall)
12. Marathon Man (1976)(as Conrad Hall)
13. Smile (1975)
14. Day of the Locust, The (1975)(as Conrad Hall)
15. Catch My Soul (1974)
16. Electra Glide in Blue (1973)(as Conrad Hall)
17. Fat City (1972)(as Conrad Hall)
18. Happy Ending, The (1969)
19. Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969)(as Conrad Hall)
20. Trilogy (1969)(segment "A Christmas Memory")
21. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)(as Conrad Hall)
22. Rogues' Gallery (1968)(as Conrad Hall)
23. Hell in the Pacific (1968)(as Conrad Hall)
24. In Cold Blood (1967)
25. Cool Hand Luke (1967)(as Conrad Hall)
26. Divorce American Style (1967)(as Conrad Hall)
27. Professionals, The (1966)(as Conrad Hall)
28. Harper (1966)(as Conrad Hall)
29. Incubus (1965)
30. Morituri (1965)(as Conrad Hall)
31. Wild Seed (1965)
32. Ghost of Sierra de Cobra, The (1964) (TV)
33. "Outer Limits, The" (1963) TV Series
34. "Stoney Burke" (1962) TV Series
35. Edge of Fury (1958)(as Conrad Hall)

A real loss. I think "Road To Perdition" is tied with "Far From Heaven" as this year's most beautiful film. And "Cool Hand Luke" -- he made you feel the sweat and heat of a Southern jail. Hall had a gift for making landscape almost like a character in movies, and he just kept getting better with age I think. Salut.

A huge loss to the film community. Don't know anything about the man, but as a DP he was the cream of the crop.

RIP Conrad

He was definitely a very good cinematographers. However, I don't think his work in "Road to Perdition" was the best of the year though. After seeing Zhang Yimou's "Hero", I sincerely doubt any other films in the next 5 years are going to be more beautiful.

He will be missed.

This is a sad day.

I had the pleasure of meeting Conrad Hall in a press junket for Road to Perdition last July.

The man truly loved his work... and loved talking the craft. While he explained some of the techniques used for RtP, his passion for the artistic merits of cinema was truly infectious. Film lovers would love to just hear him talk. I know I did.

I have yet to see "Hero" but "Connie," as everyone at the junket liked to call him, still has my vote for Best Cinematography. There were images in that film that stay with you... the bathtub execution, the death of Paul Newman's character...

May he live forever through his work.

It was a treat to see the work he did on Outer Limits - obviously both budget and time were limited for this weekly one hour TV show, but he could light a bare set (I noticed this especially for living rooms, offices, etc.) with just the right shadows to make it look like the set was fully dressed. An amazingly talented man!

I guess he will be the first cinematographer to win a posthumous Oscar (assuming he wins in March).

A true loss for the film industry. I have always loved Connie's work and even if the movie wasn't great, I could always count on seeing some great images.

I think Road To Perdition still holds for me as the best looking film of the year, with it's stunning picture perfect images and especially the rain scene towards the end...absolutely beautiful.

Connie Hall was a legend in cinematography and he will be missed. I think I'll go watch Butch Cassidy now...

MATT

Definite loss to the art of film.

a sad loss for sure

he was one of the first to make me realize how important a
cinematographer was to making a film

i was watching Marathon Man last night on dvd.

he'll be missed

Didn't the director of Butch Cassidy just die last week?

Yes. George Roy Hill passed away late in December. I believe he had Parkinsons.

He was also the director of Slap Shot, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Sting, The World According to Garp and oddly enough, Funny Farm with Chevy Chase.

Dang. He could do wonders with the camera.

I just caught some of Marathon Man on cable this morning. Tremendously sad news, especially in view of his clearly having a lot of energy and genius left to give us.

I know I'm late to this thread, but I wanted to get in my 2 cents about the late, great Conrad Hall.

Working as a stand-in for years, I spent quite a bit of time around DPs and camera folk. I never met one person who didn't say that Conrad Hall was just as nice a human being as he was a talented cinematographer.

Hall was always one of my heroes and I would ask every DP and director I worked for about him. They all would say what a great guy he was before they would talk about his talent.

He was, imho (and a lot of DPs and directors) the very best cinematographer working today. And when those conversations would come around about best all-time, there was never a list that didn't have Hall's name on it.

If you want a truly great example of his work - check out Jennifer 8 and or Tequila Sunrise. These are movies generally lost in his filmography because they were regarded as not-so-great films. But what he did with these was pure magic.

And lest we not forget my number one favorite movie of the past 25 years: Searching For Bobby Fischer. A nearly flawless film beginning to end, and an absolutely flawless film in regards to light and camera.

He deserved the Oscar that year, but it went to Schindler's List.

It may be time to finally get around to watching the long storyboard-to-film discussion on the American Beauty DVD with him and Sam Mendes..

up, cause i love his work