Personal info
Known for
Cinematographer
Gender
Male
Birthday
16 July
Location
New York, United States
Edit pageLeon Shamroy
Biography
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 the 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.
Had a reputation for being very gruff and short-tempered.
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).
Cinematographer for six Oscar Best Picture nominees: Wilson (1944), Twelve O'Clock High (1949), The Robe (1953), Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), The King and I (1956), and Cleopatra (1963).
He is one of only six cinematographers to have a star on the famous "Hollywood Walk of Fame"; the others are Hal Mohr, Ray Rennahan, J. Peverell Marley, Conrad L. Hall, and Haskell Wexler.
Was the first of only three cinematographers to win consecutive Oscars for Best Cinematography (for The Black Swan (1942), for Wilson (1944), and Leave Her to Heaven (1945)). The others are Winton C. Hoch and John Toll.
Was the first of only three cinematographers to win consecutive Oscars for Best Cinematography (for The Black Swan (1942), for Wilson (1944), and Leave Her to Heaven (1945)). The others are Winton C. Hoch and John Toll.
President American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) 1947-1948.
