A masterful, painterly cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond spent the last five decades working with some of the top directors and creating truly memorable images in classic films. He has died at the age of 85.
Born in Hungary in 1930, Zsigmond studied cinema at the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest, receiving an MA in cinematography. Working his way up to director of photography after five years at a local film studio, he joined forces with fellow student László Kovács to chronicle the 1956 Hungarian Revolution before fleeing Budapest after Soviet forces began to crush the rebellion. Arriving in Austria, the pair then moved to America and worked on a variety of B-movies, serving as photographers and lab techs before becoming cinematographers on the pulpy likes of The Sadist and The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies.
But his big American break was Robert Altman’s 1971 film McCabe & Mrs. Miller, for which he scored his first Oscar nomination. His powerful eye for imagery sparked a fruitful collaboration with Altman and brought him to the attention of other filmmakers, including a young Steven Spielberg, who hired him to work on The Sugarland Express, kicking off another fantastic partnership that would see him lift an Oscar for Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.
In a long and varied career that saw him try his hand at directing, Zsigmond was the cinematographer for the likes of The Deer Hunter, Obsession, Blow Out, The Witches Of Eastwick, The Two Jakes, The Long Goodbye, Maverick, The Ghost And The Darkness and You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger. Continuing to work up until his death on January 1, he had shot episodes of US sitcom The Mindy Project.
“Vilmos’ genius was not only in his images, but in his sense of duty to honest storytelling,” says International Cinematographers Guild president Steven Poster. “Working up close with him, I also learned about perseverance and an obligation to the story from the master. His brave beginnings providing footage from the Hungarian revolution will always be an important part of his legacy and to future generations of cinematographers and film students. He made a difference.”