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Leon Shamroy(1901-1974)

  • Cinematographer
  • Camera and Electrical Department
  • Director
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Leon Shamroy
Leon Shamroy, born Leon Shamroyevsky, was an American film cinematographer. He is best known for The Black Swan (1942),Wilson (1944), Leave Her to Heaven (1945), David and Bathsheba (1951), The Robe (1953), Cleopatra (1963), The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) and Planet of the Apes (1968).

He and Charles Lang share the record for most number of Academy Award nominations for Cinematography. During his five-decade career, he gained eighteen nominations with four wins, sharing the record with Joseph Ruttenberg.

Shamroy died in 1974 at the age of 72.
BornJuly 16, 1901
DiedJuly 7, 1974(72)
BornJuly 16, 1901
DiedJuly 7, 1974(72)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Won 4 Oscars
    • 5 wins & 15 nominations total

Photos8

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Known for

Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rex Harrison in Cleopatra (1963)
Cleopatra
7.0
  • Cinematographer
  • 1963
Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner in The King and I (1956)
The King and I
7.4
  • Cinematographer
  • 1956
Gene Tierney, Jeanne Crain, and Cornel Wilde in Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
Leave Her to Heaven
7.6
  • Cinematographer
  • 1945
Maurice Evans in Planet of the Apes (1968)
Planet of the Apes
8.0
  • Cinematographer
  • 1968

Credits

IMDbPro

Cinematographer



  • Herschel Bernardi and Sue Ane Langdon in Arnie (1970)
    Arnie
    7.0
    TV Series
    • director of photography
    • 1970
  • Sally Ann Howes in Prudence and the Chief (1970)
    Prudence and the Chief
    5.8
    TV Movie
    • Cinematographer
    • 1970
  • Anouk Aimée, Robert Forster, Michael York, Dirk Bogarde, and John Vernon in Justine (1969)
    Justine
    5.4
    • director of photography
    • 1969
  • Skidoo (1968)
    Skidoo
    4.7
    • director of photography
    • 1968
  • Walter Matthau and Edy Williams in The Secret Life of an American Wife (1968)
    The Secret Life of an American Wife
    5.5
    • director of photography
    • 1968
  • Maurice Evans in Planet of the Apes (1968)
    Planet of the Apes
    8.0
    • director of photography
    • 1968
  • Caprice (1967)
    Caprice
    5.5
    • director of photography
    • 1967
  • One Chance
    Short
    • Cinematographer
    • 1966
  • The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
    The Glass Bottom Boat
    6.5
    • director of photography
    • 1966
  • Doris Day, Rod Taylor, and Sergio Fantoni in Do Not Disturb (1965)
    Do Not Disturb
    5.9
    • director of photography
    • 1965
  • Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison in The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
    The Agony and the Ecstasy
    7.2
    • director of photography
    • 1965
  • John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965)
    John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!
    5.0
    • director of photography
    • 1965
  • Gene Kelly, Robert Mitchum, Paul Newman, Shirley MacLaine, Dean Martin, Dick Van Dyke, and Robert Cummings in What a Way to Go! (1964)
    What a Way to Go!
    6.9
    • director of photography
    • 1964
  • Romy Schneider and Tom Tryon in The Cardinal (1963)
    The Cardinal
    6.8
    • director of photography
    • 1963
  • Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rex Harrison in Cleopatra (1963)
    Cleopatra
    7.0
    • director of photography
    • 1963

Camera and Electrical Department



  • Footprints on the Moon: Apollo 11 (1969)
    Footprints on the Moon: Apollo 11
    8.0
    • director of photography: prologue
    • 1969
  • The Virgin Queen (1955)
    The Virgin Queen
    6.6
    • director of photography: fill-in (uncredited)
    • 1955
  • Ilka Chase, Walter Connolly, John Howard, and Mary Taylor in Soak the Rich (1936)
    Soak the Rich
    5.9
    • camera director
    • 1936
  • Barbara Stanwyck and Otto Kruger in Ever in My Heart (1933)
    Ever in My Heart
    6.6
    • second camera operator (uncredited)
    • 1933

Director



  • Man's Paradise
    • Director
    • 1938
  • Charles Darvas, William Herford, and Otto Matieson in The Telltale Heart (1928)
    The Telltale Heart
    6.9
    Short
    • Director (uncredited)
    • 1928

Personal details

  • Alternative names
    • Leonard Shamroy
  • Born
    • July 16, 1901
    • New York City, New York, USA
  • Died
    • July 7, 1974
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(undisclosed)
  • Spouses
      Mary AndersonMay 12, 1953 - July 7, 1974 (his death, 1 child)
  • Children
    • Paul Shamroy
  • Relatives
    • Bernard B. Ray(Sibling)
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Articles

Did you know

  • Trivia
    Though Ben Lyon may have been the first to discover Marilyn Monroe, it was Shamroy who shot her very first Technicolor screen test. The six-minute test was filmed on the same set that had been used for the Betty Grable movie, Mother Wore Tights (1947). Ironically, both Monroe and Grable would later co-star in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953).
  • Quotes
    God was a great photographer. He'd only gotten one light.

    Lee Garmes will never see the day that he's as good as I am, and that goes for anybody in the motion picture business.
  • Nickname
    • The Cameraman's Cameraman

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