Vilmos Zsigmond, the Oscar-winning cinematographer whose camera defined the look of 1970s American cinema, has died. The Close Encounters of the Third Kind cinematographer was 85.
His business partner Yuri Neyman confirmed to Variety that Zsigmond died on Jan. 1.
Zsigmond was born in Hungary and fled in 1956 during the Russian invasion. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, he was friends with Laszlo Kovacs, another cinematographer who would have an incredible influence on American film, before coming to the U.S. Together, the two filmed Russian tanks rolling into Budapest and their footage was used in a CBS News film about the Hungarian Revolution.
In 1962, Zsigmond became an American citizen and by the middle of the decade, was already working steadily in American films. In 1971, he first worked with Robert Altman on McCabe & Mrs. Miller and later worked with Altman on The Long Goodbye in 1973.
In 1974, he shot The Sugarland Express, Steven Spielberg’s first theatrical film. Spielberg picked Zsigmond to shoot Close Encounters in 1977 and won the Oscar for Best Cinematography.
Zsigmond was nominated for three more Oscars. He was nominated for Michael Cimino’s 1978 Best Picture winner The Deer Hunter, Mark Rydell’s The River (1984) and Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia (2006).
Other important films shot by Zsigmond include Deliverance, Obsession, Heaven’s Gate, Blow Out and The Two Jakes. He worked with Woody Allen on Melinda and Melinda, Cassandra’s Dream and You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger. In his later years, he shot 24 episodes of The Mindy Project.
“A second giant has left us within the same week,” American Society of Cinematographers president Richard Crudo said, noting how closely Zsigmond’s death came after Haskell Wexler’s. “Vilmos Zsigmond was one of the rare cinematographers who helped redefine not just the way movies look, but the way we look at them as well. Every member and associate of the ASC loved and respected him...and we will always miss him.”