Celebrity Biographies
Vilmos Zsigmond
The Hungarian Vilmos Zsigmond died on January 1, at the age of 85. This has been made public by Yuri Neyman, who founded the Global Institute of Cinematography with him. He shot a hundred films, with the most important directors emerging in the 70s.
Born on June 16, 1930, in the southeast of Hungary, Vilmos Zsigmond inherited the same name from his father, a great soccer star in his country. He studied cinema at the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest, together with his best friend, the cinematographer Lâszlo Kovács ( Ghostbusters ).
When in 1956 the Hungarian people rebelled against the Soviet government, the twenty-something Zsigmond and Kovács filmed several rolls documenting the situation, and managed to escape to Austria, from where they spread their images. Many years later, this material was included in the US public broadcaster PBS documentary “No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos”.
In 1962, Zsigmond obtained US citizenship and began working in photo labs, until he began shooting independent films such as The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies , considered a small B – series classic. Long Goodbye and Los Vividores , directed by Robert Altman , and Deliverance (Defense) , by John Boorman .
Steven Spielberg was so pleased with his work on The Getaway that he recruited him again for Encounters of the Third Kind , for which he won the Oscar for Best Cinematography. However, he had not felt comfortable during his filming with King Midas. “I had no chance to contribute ideas. They were about to fire me. I only continued because they couldn’t find a replacement.” Despite the Academy’s recognition, he never worked with the director again.
He didn’t need it, because the biggest ones were fighting for him. He earned three other Oscar nominations, for The Hunter , When the River Rises , and most recently for The Black Dahlia . He was in the ambitious Heaven’s Gate , which led to the disaster of Michael Cimino , in such well-known titles as Maverick or The Witches of Eastwick , and he even worked with Woody Allen in Melinda and Melinda , Cassandra’s Dream and You Will Meet the Man of Your dreams .
Vilmos Zsigmond married Elizabeth Fuzes, with whom he had two daughters. He received the 1999 Cinematographers Guild Award for his illustrious career as a whole. His last work was Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks , a romantic comedy with Gena Rowlands , from 2014.