In 1960, following his work on
Entre Deus e o Pecado (1960), he quit the movie business. He
returned briefly in 1966 to direct photography for the pilot episode of
the TV series
Missão Impossível (1966). Afterwards, he virtually disappeared. For years,
even his closest friends did not know his whereabouts. In 1984, his
work was honored at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, with a
tribute entitled, "Where is John Alton?" In 1993, at the age of 92,
Alton heard about
Visions of Light (1992), a documentary about cinematographers that
included some of his movie work. He contacted the film's producer,
Todd McCarthy, and asked to attend the premiere. McCarthy, who had hoped to
include an interview with Alton in the film, was astonished to hear
from him. Afterwards, Alton insisted that there was nothing mysterious
in his disappearance, that he and his wife had simply decided to give
up the movie business and travel a bit. They had lived in France,
Germany, and Argentina, and had a great time. He died in 1996 at the
age of 95.