Biography

Roy Seawright was born on November 19, 1905 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for One Million B.C. (1940), Topper Returns (1941) and Topper Takes a Trip (1938). He died on April 30, 1991 in Torrance, California, USA.

When the Motion Picture Academy established an Oscar category for Best Special Effects in 1939, Seawright was one of its inaugural nominees, for "Topper Takes a Trip" (1938). He was subsequently nominated for "One Million B.C." (1940) and "Topper Returns" (1941).

Roy Seawright's movie career began under tragic circumstances. In 1919 his father, a construction worker, was killed in an accident while building the new Hal Roach studio in Culver City, California. Feeling a sense of responsibility, Roach hired the teen-aged Roy as an office boy, encouraged his creativity and eventually guided him to the position of head of his studio's "Optical Department" in 1934. During that time Seawright mastered all the tricks of the special effects trade, even though the Roach studio was a budget enterprise and he always had to find what he called "the best and most economical solution" to a problem. Seawright left Roach in 1947, briefly worked for Eagle-Lion, and then started his own company, providing effects for TV advertising.