Douglas Slocombe, the famed British cinematographer who shot all three of Steven Spielberg’s original Indiana Jones films, has died. He was 103 years old.
His daughter, Georgia Slocombe, told the Associated Press that her father died on Feb. 22 at a London hospital. Slocombe suffered a fall recently that, she said.
In a statement to the BBC, Spielberg called Slocombe a “great collaborator and a beautiful human being.” Without him, the Indiana Jones films wouldn’t look the way they do.
“Dougie Slocombe was facile, enthusiastic, and loved the action of filmmaking. Harrison Ford was Indiana Jones in front of the camera, but with his whip-smart crew, Dougie was my behind the scenes hero for the first three Indy movies,” Spielberg said.
Slocombe was one of the best-known cinematographers in Britain long before Spielberg made Raiders of the Lost Ark. After shooting documentaries during World War II, Slcombe became a regular for Ealing Studios, where he was the cinematographer on Kind Hearts and Coronets with Alec Guinness. During the 1960s, he shot Roman Polanski’s The Fearless Vampire Killers, The Lion In Winter with Katharine Hepburn and Peter O’Toole and the original Italian Job.
Despite shooting 80 films, Slcombe only earned Oscar nominations for Travels With My Aunt (1972), Julia (1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). He did win BAFTA Awards for Julia, The Great Gatsby (1974) and The Servant (1963).
Slocombe’s final credit was 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.