Jordan Cronenweth

American cinematographer (1935–1992)

Jordan Cronenweth

Born|

Jordan Scott Cronenweth

(1935-02-20)February 20, 1935

Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Died| November 29, 1996(1996-11-29) (aged 61)

Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Occupation| Cinematographer
Years active| 1969–1992
Known for| Blade Runner
Altered States
Peggy Sue Got Married
Stop Making Sense
Children| Jeff Cronenweth
Awards|

* BAFTA Film Award for Best Cinematography
* ASC Award for Outstanding Cinematography
* LAFCA Award for Best Cinematography

Jordan Scott Cronenweth, ASC (February 20, 1935 - November 29, 1996) was an American cinematographer based in Los Angeles, California. Considered to be one of the greatest and most influential cinematographers of all time, he is best remembered for his BAFTA Award-winning work on the groundbreaking science fiction film Blade Runner,[1] which is credited as codifying the cyberpunk aesthetic.[2][3] A contemporary of Conrad Hall, his style consisted of heavily textured, film noir-inspired photography, seen in numerous classic films, including Zandy's Bride, Gable and Lombard, Altered States, and Peggy Sue Got Married.

In 1987, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and he received an ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases for his work on Peggy Sue Got Married.[4][5]

## Life and career[edit]

Born in Los Angeles, California on February 20, 1935, Cronenweth attended North Hollywood High School and later Los Angeles City College, majoring in Engineering. While in college he interned as a film lab assistant at Columbia Pictures and acted as a cameraman on the 1955 musical film Oklahoma!.[6]

His widely acclaimed[7][8] work on the science fiction-noir Blade Runner won the Best Cinematography Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and got a BSC Award nomination and BAFTA Film Award. He won a 1987 ASC Award and earned an Academy Award nomination for Peggy Sue Got Married.

Cronenweth was initially hired as the director of photography for The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, but halfway through production producers replaced him with Fred J. Koenekamp.[9]

A 2003 poll of his peers conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild placed Cronenweth among the ten most influential cinematographers of all time.[10][11]

## Personal life[edit]

He and his first wife Carol had three children, Christie Cronenweth, Tim Cronenweth, and two-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth.[12] He was later married to Shane Cronenweth for 17 years.

## Illness and death[edit]

Cronenweth was originally misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1978, and correctly diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1981. He continued working in film and commercials as a cinematographer, and in several commercials as director/cameraman, for another 13 years despite considerable physical challenges.

He was replaced two weeks into the production of Alien 3 after falling ill, and died in 1996 at the age of 61 as a result of Parkinson's disease.[13]

## Filmography[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director  | Notes

|
|
|

1969  | Trilogy | Frank Perry | Segment "A Christmas Memory";
Shared credit with Joseph C. Brun and Conrad Hall
1970  | Brewster McCloud | Robert Altman | with Lamar Boren
1971  | The Touch of Satan | Don Henderson  |
1972  | Cry for Me, Billy | William A. Graham |
Play It as It Lays | Frank Perry  |
1973  | Birds of Prey | William A. Graham  | Television film
1974  | The Nickel Ride | Robert Mulligan |
Zandy's Bride | Jan Troell |
The Front Page | Billy Wilder |
1976  | Gable and Lombard | Sidney J. Furie |
1977  | One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story | William A. Graham  | Television film
Handle with Care | Jonathan Demme |
Rolling Thunder | John Flynn |
1980  | Altered States | Ken Russell |
1981  | Cutter's Way | Ivan Passer |
1982  | Best Friends | Norman Jewison |
Blade Runner | Ridley Scott | BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematographer
Nominated- British Society of Cinematographers
1984  | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai
Across the 8th Dimension | W. D. Richter | with Fred J. Koenekamp
1986  | Just Between Friends | Allan Burns |
Peggy Sue Got Married | Francis Ford Coppola | ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Nominated- Academy Award for Best Cinematography
1987  | Gardens of Stone |
1990  | State of Grace | Phil Joanou |
1992  | Final Analysis | Final film

Concert films

Year  | Title  | Director

|
|

1984  | Stop Making Sense | Jonathan Demme
1988  | U2: Rattle and Hum | Phil Joanou
1991  | Get Back | Richard Lester

## References[edit]

1. ^ Lightman, Herb A. and Richard Patterson (March 1999). Cinematography for Blade Runner. Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine American Cinematographer
2. ^ "Cinematography for Blade Runner - page 1". theasc.com. Archived from the original on 2016-11-29. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
3. ^ "Blade Runner: The Cinematography of Jordan Cronenweth". DIY Photography. 2014-04-17. Archived from the original on 2017-09-07. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
4. ^ "Blade Runner: The Cinematography of Jordan Cronenweth". DIY Photography. 2014-04-17. Archived from the original on 2017-09-07. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
5. ^ "ICG Announces Top 10 Influential Cinematographers". Creative Planet Network. 2014-06-09. Archived from the original on 2017-09-07. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
6. ^ "JORDAN CRONENWETH". www.cinematographers.nl. Archived from the original on 2017-04-20. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
7. ^ ""Oh, My...." Cinematography: Blade Runner". "Oh, My...." Cinematography. Archived from the original on 2018-09-02. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
8. ^ "The Cinematography of "Blade Runner" (1982) – Evan E. Richards". Evan E. Richards. 2009-07-23. Archived from the original on 2017-09-07. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
9. ^ Ryan, Mike (2011-01-26). "Jeff Cronenweth on His Oscar Nomination for The Social Network and Joining His Late Father as a Nominee". Movieline.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-10. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
10. ^ Staff report (October 17, 2003). Cinematographers pick their Top 11. Los Angeles Times
11. ^ "Top 10 Most Influential Cinematographers Voted on by Camera Guild," October 16, 2003. Archived January 9, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved January 28, 2011.
12. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-07-06. Retrieved 2015-06-29.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
13. ^ Staff report (December 25, 1996). Memorial Service Set for Cronenweth. Los Angeles Times

## External links[edit]

* Jordan Cronenweth at IMDb
* BRmovie.com - Jordan Cronenweth Profile

Awards for Jordan Cronenweth

* v
* t
* e

American Society of Cinematographers Theatrical Release Award

1986–1999|

* Jordan Cronenweth (1986)
* Allen Daviau (1987)
* Conrad L. Hall (1988)
* Haskell Wexler (1989)
* Dean Semler (1990)
* Allen Daviau (1991)
* Stephen H. Burum (1992)
* Conrad L. Hall (1993)
* Roger Deakins (1994)
* John Toll (1995)
* John Seale (1996)
* Russell Carpenter (1997)
* John Toll (1998)
* Conrad L. Hall (1999)

2000–|

* Caleb Deschanel (2000)
* Roger Deakins (2001)
* Conrad L. Hall (2002)
* John Schwartzman (2003)
* Bruno Delbonnel (2004)
* Dion Beebe (2005)
* Emmanuel Lubezki (2006)
* Robert Elswit (2007)
* Anthony Dod Mantle (2008)
* Christian Berger (2009)
* Wally Pfister (2010)
* Emmanuel Lubezki (2011)
* Roger Deakins (2012)
* Emmanuel Lubezki (2013)
* Emmanuel Lubezki (2014)
* Emmanuel Lubezki (2015)
* Greig Fraser (2016)
* Roger Deakins (2017)
* Łukasz Żal (2018)
* Roger Deakins (2019)
* Erik Messerschmidt (2020)
* Greig Fraser (2021)
* Mandy Walker (2022)
* Hoyte van Hoytema (2023)

* v
* t
* e

BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography

1963–1967|

| Colour|

* Ted Moore (1963)
* Geoffrey Unsworth (1964)
* Otto Heller (1965)
* Christopher Challis (1966)
* Ted Moore (1967)

|

Black and White|

* Douglas Slocombe (1963)
* Oswald Morris (1964)
* Oswald Morris (1965)
* Oswald Morris (1966)
* Gerry Turpin (1967)

1968–present|

* Geoffrey Unsworth (1968)
* Gerry Turpin (1969)
* Conrad Hall (1970)
* Pasqualino De Santis (1971)
* Geoffrey Unsworth (1972)
* Anthony B. Richmond (1973)
* Douglas Slocombe (1974)
* John Alcott (1975)
* Russell Boyd (1976)
* Geoffrey Unsworth (1977)
* Douglas Slocombe (1978)
* Vilmos Zsigmond (1979)
* Giuseppe Rotunno (1980)
* Geoffrey Unsworth, Ghislain Cloquet (1981)
* Jordan Cronenweth (1982)
* Sven Nykvist (1983)
* Chris Menges (1984)
* Miroslav Ondříček (1985)
* David Watkin (1986)
* Bruno Nuytten (1987)
* Allen Daviau (1988)
* Peter Biziou (1989)
* Vittorio Storaro (1990)
* Pierre Lhomme (1991)
* Dante Spinotti (1992)
* Janusz Kamiński (1993)
* Philippe Rousselot (1994)
* John Toll (1995)
* John Seale (1996)
* Eduardo Serra (1997)
* Remi Adefarasin (1998)
* Conrad Hall (1999)
* John Mathieson (2000)
* Roger Deakins (2001)
* Conrad Hall (2002)
* Andrew Lesnie (2003)
* Dion Beebe/Paul Cameron (2004)
* Dion Beebe (2005)
* Emmanuel Lubezki (2006)
* Roger Deakins (2007)
* Anthony Dod Mantle (2008)
* Barry Ackroyd (2009)
* Roger Deakins (2010)
* Guillaume Schiffman (2011)
* Claudio Miranda (2012)
* Emmanuel Lubezki (2013)
* Emmanuel Lubezki (2014)
* Emmanuel Lubezki (2015)
* Linus Sandgren (2016)
* Roger Deakins (2017)
* Alfonso Cuarón (2018)
* Roger Deakins (2019)
* Joshua James Richards (2020)
* Greig Fraser (2021)
* James Friend (2022)
* Hoyte van Hoytema (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography

1975–2000|

* John Alcott (1975)
* Haskell Wexler (1976)
* Douglas Slocombe (1977)
* Néstor Almendros (1978)
* Caleb Deschanel (1979)
* Ghislain Cloquet and Geoffrey Unsworth (1980)
* Vittorio Storaro (1981)
* Jordan Cronenweth (1982)
* Sven Nykvist (1983)
* Chris Menges (1984)
* David Watkin (1985)
* Chris Menges (1986)
* Vittorio Storaro (1987)
* Henri Alekan (1988)
* Michael Ballhaus (1989)
* Michael Ballhaus (1990)
* Roger Deakins (1991)
* Zhao Fei (1992)
* Stuart Dryburgh / Janusz Kamiński (1993)
* Stefan Czapsky (1994)
* Lü Yue (1995)
* Chris Menges / John Seale (1996)
* Dante Spinotti (1997)
* Janusz Kamiński (1998)
* Dante Spinotti (1999)
* Peter Pau (2000)

2001–present|

* Roger Deakins (2001)
* Edward Lachman (2002)
* Eduardo Serra (2003)
* Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron (2004)
* Robert Elswit (2005)
* Emmanuel Lubezki (2006)
* Janusz Kamiński (2007)
* Yu Lik-wai (2008)
* Christian Berger (2009)
* Matthew Libatique (2010)
* Emmanuel Lubezki (2011)
* Roger Deakins (2012)
* Emmanuel Lubezki (2013)
* Emmanuel Lubezki (2014)
* John Seale (2015)
* James Laxton (2016)
* Dan Laustsen (2017)
* Alfonso Cuarón (2018)
* Claire Mathon (2019)
* Shabier Kirchner (2020)
* Ari Wegner (2021)
* Michał Dymek (2022)
* Robbie Ryan (2023)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Spain
* France
* BnF data
* Germany
* Israel
* United States
* Czech Republic
* Poland

Other|

* IdRef

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