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Vilmos Zsigmond

Cinematographer | Camera and Electrical Department | Actor

Along with László Kovács, a fellow student who fled Hungary in 1956, Zsigmond rose to prominence in the 1970s. He is known for his use of natural light and vivid use of color on features such as The Long Goodbye and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. See full bio »

Born:

in Szeged, Hungary
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Vilmos Zsigmond Still of Vilmos Zsigmond in No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos Still of László Kovács and Vilmos Zsigmond in No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
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Known For


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Filmography

Hide HideCinematographer (86 titles)
2012 At 2:15 (pre-production)
 
2012 Bolden! (post-production)
 
2011 The Maiden Danced to Death (director of photography)
 
2010 Louis
 
2010 You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
 
2007 Torn from the Flag: A Film by Klaudia Kovacs (documentary)
 
2007 Cassandra's Dream
 
2006 The Black Dahlia
 
2006 Surrender, Dorothy (TV movie)
 
2004 Melinda and Melinda
 
2004 Medicine Chest (video short)
 
2004 Jersey Girl (director of photography)
 
2002 Bánk bán
 
2001 Life as a House (director of photography)
 
2001 The Mists of Avalon (TV movie)
 
2001 The Body
 
2000 Ljuset håller mig sällskap (documentary)
 
1999 The Argument (short)
 
1998 Playing by Heart (director of photography)
 
1998 Illegal Music
 
1996 The Ghost and the Darkness
 
1995 Assassins
 
1995 The Crossing Guard
 
1994 Maverick
 
1994 Intersection (director of photography)
 
1993 Sliver
 
1992 Stalin (TV movie)
 
1990 The Bonfire of the Vanities (director of photography)
 
1990 The Two Jakes
 
1989 Fat Man and Little Boy (director of photography)
 
1988 Journey to Spirit Island
 
1987 The Witches of Eastwick
 
1985 Real Genius
 
1984 The River
 
1984 No Small Affair
 
1983 Table for Five
 
1982 Jinxed!
 
1981 Blow Out (director of photography)
 
1980 Heaven's Gate
 
1979 The Rose
 
1979 Flesh & Blood (TV movie)
 
1979 Winter Kills
 
1978 The Deer Hunter (director of photography)
 
1977 Close Encounters of the Third Kind (director of photography)
 
1976 Obsession
 
1976 Death Riders (documentary)
 
1976 Sweet Revenge
 
1974 The Girl from Petrovka
 
1974 The Sugarland Express (director of photography)
 
1973 Cinderella Liberty (director of photography)
 
1973 Scarecrow
 
1973 The Long Goodbye (photographed by)
 
1972 Deliverance (director of photography)
 
1972 Images
 
1972 Blood of Ghastly Horror (director of photography / as William Zsigmond)
 
1971 The Ski Bum
 
1971 The Hired Hand
 
1971 McCabe & Mrs. Miller (director of photography)
 
1971 Red Sky at Morning
 
1970 Five Bloody Graves (as William Zsigmond)
 
1970 Horror of the Blood Monsters (director of photography / as William Zsigmond)
 
1969 Baja Marimba Band (TV movie)
 
1969 Futz (director of photography)
 
1969 The Monitors
 
1969 The Bold Ones: The Protectors (TV series)
– A Case of Good Whiskey at Christmas Time (1969)
 
1969 Satan's Sadists (uncredited)
 
1969 The Picasso Summer
 
1968 The World of Animals: Big Cats, Little Cats (TV documentary)
 
1968 The Name of the Game Is Kill
 
1968 Prelude (short)
 
1968 Jennie: Wife/Child
 
1967 Mondo Mod (documentary) (as William Zsigmond)
 
1967 The Road to Nashville (as William Zsigmund)
 
1965 Rat Fink
 
1965 Summer Children (as William Zsigmond)
 
1965 Tales of a Salesman (as William Zsigmond)
 
1965 Deadwood '76 (director of photography / as William Zsigmond)
 
1965 Psycho a Go-Go (as William Zsigmond)
 
1965 The Market (TV documentary) (as William Zsigmond)
 
1964 The Nasty Rabbit (as William Zsigmond)
 
1964 The Time Travelers (as William Zsigmond)
 
1964 What's Up Front! (as William Zsigmond)
 
1963 Living Between Two Worlds
 
1963 The Sadist (director of photography / as William Zsigmond)
 
1963 Story of the Wholesale Produce Market (documentary short)
 
1955 Hajnal elött (short)
 
Show ShowCamera and Electrical Department (9 titles)
2009 Independent Lens (TV series documentary) (still photographer - 1 episode)
– No Subtitles Necessary: László and Vilmos (2009) (still photographer)
 
2003 Timeline (director of photography: Los Angeles)
 
1989-1990 China Beach (TV series) (photographer: special interview sequences - 2 episodes)
– Souvenirs (1990) (photographer: special interview sequences)
– Vets (1989) (photographer: special interview sequences)
 
1982 The Border (additional photographer, camera operator: additional photography)
 
1978 The Last Waltz (documentary) (additional director of photography)
 
1971 Dusty and Sweets McGee (additional photographer: Whiskey-A-Go-Go)
 
1966 The Cat (nature photographer - as William Zsigmond)
 
1964 The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? (camera operator - as William Zsigmond)
 
1962 Wild Guitar (photographer: second unit - as William Zsigmond)
 
Show ShowActor (2 titles)
2010 Louis
Hungarian Photographer
 
1994 Maverick
Albert Bierstadt
 
Show ShowProducer (1 title)
2007 Torn from the Flag: A Film by Klaudia Kovacs (documentary) (executive producer)
 
Show ShowDirector (1 title)
1992 The Long Shadow
 
Show ShowThanks (7 titles)
2008 Lymelife (special thanks)
 
2003 Reflections on Golden Pond (video documentary short) (special thanks)
 
2003 Imagining 'Images' (video documentary short) (special thanks)
 
2002 Vilmos Zsigmond Flashes 'The Long Goodbye' (video documentary short) (thanks)
 
2001 In Pursuit (video) (special thanks)
 
1992 Visions of Light (documentary) (special thanks: AFI)
 
1965 Summer Children (very special thanks - special edition re-release)
 
Show ShowSelf (27 titles)
2012 Side by Side (documentary) (post-production)
Himself
 
2010 Silhouettes in Shadow and Light
Himself
 
2010 A Cinematic Life: The Art and Influence of Conrad Hall (video short)
Himself
 
2008 No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos (documentary)
Himself
 
2008 Light Is Everything: Vilmos Zsigmond on Cinematography (documentary)
Himself
 
2007 Deliverance: Betraying the River (video short)
Himself
 
2007 Deliverance: Delivered (video short)
Himself
 
2007 Deliverance: The Journey (video short)
Himself
 
2007 Master and the Disciples: Unfinished Conversation About Cinematography (documentary)
Himself
 
2006 Wanderlust (TV documentary)
Himself
 
2006 Cinematographer Style (documentary)
Himself
 
2006 Who Needs Sleep? (documentary)
 
2004 Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven's Gate (documentary)
Himself
 
2004 Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (TV documentary)
Himself
 
2003 The Return of 'The Hired Hand' (video documentary)
Himself
 
2003 Imagining 'Images' (video documentary short)
Himself
 
2003 Who Killed 'Winter Kills'? (video documentary short)
Himself
 
2003 Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (documentary)
Himself
 
2003 Shooting 'The Deer Hunter' (video short)
Himself
 
2002 Vilmos Zsigmond Flashes 'The Long Goodbye' (video documentary short)
Himself
 
2001 The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (video documentary)
Himself
 
2001 'Obsession' Revisited (video documentary short)
Himself
 
2001 Character Building: Inside 'Life as a House' (video documentary short)
Himself
 
2000 Ljuset håller mig sällskap (documentary)
Himself - Interviewee
 
1997 Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western (TV documentary)
Himself
 
1992 Visions of Light (documentary)
Himself
 
1978 The 50th Annual Academy Awards (TV special)
Himself - Winner: Best Cinematography
 

Related Videos

Five Bloody Graves -- A lone gunman hunts the fearsome Apache Satago across the plains of the Wild West. When Satago's marauders ambush a stagecoach, the gunman rides to the rescue of the trapped passengers and helps them in their last stand against the deadly Indians. No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos -- NO SUBTITLES NECESSARY: LASZLO AND VILMOS. The lifelong friendship of the great cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond and their impact on American cinema. As film students in Hungary, Laszlo and Vilmos took to the war-torn streets of Budapest to shoot footage of the Russian invasion, and subsequently volunteered to smuggle it out of the country. Barely escaping with their lives, the two friends fled to America and settled in Hollywood, eventually saving enough money to buy their own 16mm camera. After working on a string of low-budget horror and biker movies, both men soon rose to prominence in the late 60's and 70's, shooting the films that defined what came to be known as the American New Wave: Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Deliverance, Paper Moon, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and more. Working with directors including Robert Altman, Bob Rafelson, Peter Bogdanovich, and Martin Scorsese, they helped create a new American film aesthetic, and pioneered innovative, fearless ways to tell stories. “When it comes to Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond, it's clear that the American New Wave of the late 1960's and early '70s wouldn't have flowered as it did without them." – Leonard Maltin Told through interviews with Laszlo (who died in 2007) and Vilmos, as well as directors including Rafelson, Bogdanovich, John Boorman, Graeme Clifford, Richard Donner, William Richert, Mark Rydell, composer John Williams and actors such as Jon Voight, Peter Fonda, Sandra Bullock, Karen Black, Dennis Hopper and Sharon Stone, NO SUBTITLES NECESSARY is an intimate portrait of two giants of modern imagemaking and their deep bond of brotherhood that transcended every imaginable boundary. Two heroes. One road. Side by Side -- The documentary investigates the history, process and workflow of both digital and photochemical film creation.
See all 10 »
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Personal Details

Other Works:

(2001) Theatrical commercial, L.A. Times (on camera)

Publicity Listings:

4 Biographical Movies  | 1 Print Biography  | 3 Interviews  | 4 Articles  | See more »

Official Sites:

Budapest Cinematographers MasterClass's Master | See more »

Alternate Names:

William Zsigmond | William Zsigmund
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Did You Know?

Personal Quote:

[on Heaven's Gate] Michael [Cimino] really wanted to make a perfect film. He could have made this film for much less. He overdid it; he overcomplicated it. But they should not have killed him for it. See more »

Trivia:

Began his career photographing the Hungarian revolution of 1956. Won several international and domestic awards as director of TV commercials. See more »

Star Sign:

Gemini