ZSIGMOND, Vilmos 1930–

(William Zsigmond)

PERSONAL

Name is pronounced "Vilmosh Gigmond"; born June 16, 1930, in Szeged, Hungary; immigrated to the United States, 1957; naturalized U.S. citizen, 1962; son of Vilmo (a soccer goalie and coach) and Bozena (an administrator; maiden name, Illichman) Zsigmond; married Elizabeth Fuzes (divorced); children: Julia, Susi. Education: State Academy of Motion Picture and Theatre Arts (Budapest), M.A., cinematography, 1956.

Addresses: Agent—Feinstein & Shorr, 16133 Ventura Blvd., Suite 800, Encino, CA 91436; Innovative Artists, 15805 10th St., Santa Monica, CA 90401; The Mack Agency, 4705 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Ste. 204, Valley Village, CA 91607.

Career: Cinematographer and actor. Cinematic Directions, founder, 1985; director of television commercials with Cinematic Directions and Filmfair; cinematographer of television documentaries for Wolper Productions; also worked as still photographer, laboratory technician, and camera assistant.

Member: American Society of Cinematographers, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (Local #659), Directors Guild of America.

Awards, Honors: National Society of Film Critics Award, best cinematography, 1973, for The Long Goodbye; Film Award nomination, best cinematography, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1973, for McCabe & Mrs. Miller; Film Award nomination, best cinematography, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1973, for Deliverance; Film Award nomination, best cinematography, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1973, for Images; Academy Award, best cinematography, 1977, Film Award nomination, best cinematography, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1979, both for Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Academy Award nomination, best cinematography, 1978, Film Award, best cinematography, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1979, both for The Deer Hunter; Academy Award nomination, best cinematography, 1984, for The River; ASC Award, outstanding achievement in cinematography in movies of the week/pilots, American Society of Cinematographers, 1993, ACE Award, Emmy Award, all for Stalin; ASC Award nomination, outstanding achievement in cinematography in theatrical releases, 1997, for The Ghost and the Darkness; Golden Frog Award, lifetime achievement, Camerimage, 1997; Lifetime Achievement Award, Worldfest, 1998; Lifetime Achievement Award, American Society of Cinematographers, 1999; Maverick Tribute Award, Cinequest San Jose Film Festival, 1999; Emmy Award nomination, outstanding cinematography for a miniseries, 2002, for The Mists of Avalon; Best Film Adaptation of an Opera (with Csaba Kael), Camerimage, 2002, for Bank Ban.

CREDITS

Film Cinematographer:

Hajnal eloett, 1955.

(With others), Hungarn in flammen (documentary; also known as Revolt in Hungary), 1957.

(As William Zsigmond; second unit) Wild Guitar, 1962.

(As William Zsigmond) Living between Two Worlds, Empire, 1963.

(As William Zsigmond) The Sadist (also known as Profile of Terror and Sweet Baby Charlie), Fairway International, 1963.

(As William Zsigmond) The Nasty Rabbit (also known as Spies A Go–Go), Fairway International, 1964.

(As William Zsigmond) The Time Travelers (also known as Depths of the Unknown, The Return of the TimeTraveler, The Return of the Time Travelers, This Time Tomorrow, and Time Trap), American International, 1964.

(As William Zsigmond) What's Up Front (also known as The Fall Guy and A Fourth for Marriage), Fairway International, 1964.

Psycho A Go–Go! (also known as Blood of Ghastly Horror, The Fiend with the Electric Brain, Echo of Terror, and Man with the Synthetic Brain), Hemisphere/American General, 1965.

(As William Zsigmond) Deadwood '76, Fairway International, 1965.

(As William Zsigmond) The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Crazy Mixed–Up Zombies (also known as Teenage Psycho Meets Bloody Mary, The Incredibly Strange Creature: Or Why I Stopped Living and Became a Mixed–Up Zombie, Diabolical Mr. Voodoo, and The Incredibly Mixed Up Zombie), Hollywood Star, 1965.

(As William Zsigmond) Rat Fink (also known as Wild and Willing, My Soul Runs Naked, and The Swinging Fink), Genesis/Cinema, 1965.

(As William Zsigmond) A Hot Summer Game (also known as It's All in the Game and Summer Children), European Producers International, 1965.

(As William Zsigmond) Tales of a Salesman (also known as Tales of a Traveling Salesman), Rossmore, 1965.

(As William Zsigmond) Road to Nashville, Crown International, 1966.

(As William Zsigmond; with Laszlo Kovacs) Mondo Mod (documentary), Timely Motion Pictures, 1967.

(As William Zsigmond) The Name of the Game Is Kill (also known as Lovers in Limbo and The Female Trap), Fanfare, 1968.

(As William Zsigmond; with Robert Carl Cohen) Jennie, Wife/Child, Emerson Film Enterprises, 1968.

(As William Zsigmond) The Monitors, Commonwealth United Entertainment, 1969.

(As William Zsigmond; with Vilis Lapenieks and Mario Tosi) Hot Rod Action (documentary), Cinerama, 1969.

Futz!, Commonwealth United International, 1969.

The Gun Riders (also known as Five Bloody Graves, Lonely Man, and Five Bloody Days to Tombstone), Independent International, 1969.

(Uncredited) Satan's Sadists (also known as Nightmare Bloodbath), 1969.

(With others) Picasso Summer, 1970.

(As William Zsigmond) The Horror of the Blood Monsters (also known as Blood Monster, Creatures of the Prehistoric Planet, Horror Creatures of the Red Planet, Flesh Creatures of the Red Planet, The Flesh Creatures, Space Mission of the Lost Planet, Horror Creatures of the Lost Planet, Horror Creatures of the Prehistoric Planet, Space Mission of the Prehistoric Planet, Space Mission to the Lost Planet, and Vampire Men of the Lost Planet), Independent International, 1970.

The Hired Hand, Universal, 1971.

McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Warner Bros., 1971.

Red Sky at Morning, Universal, 1971.

The Ski Bum (also known as Point Zero), AVCO–Embassy, 1971.

Deliverance, Warner Bros., 1972.

Images, Columbia, 1972.

Blood of Ghastly Horror (also known as Echo of Terror, The Fiend with the Atomic Bomb, Fiend with the Electronic Brain, The Love Maniac, The Man with the Synthetic Brain, and Psycho A Go–Go), 1972.

Cinderella Liberty, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1973.

The Long Goodbye, United Artists, 1973.

Scarecrow, Warner Bros., 1973.

The Girl from Petrovka, Universal, 1974.

The Sugarland Express, Universal, 1974.

Dandy, the All–American Girl (also known as Sweet Revenge), Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1976.

Death Riders, Crown International, 1976.

Obsession, Columbia, 1976.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Columbia, 1977.

The Last Waltz, United Artists, 1978.

The Deer Hunter, Universal, 1978.

The Rose, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1979.

Winter Kills, AVCO–Embassy, 1979.

Heaven's Gate (also known as Johnson County Wars), United Artists, 1980.

Blow Out, Filmways, 1981.

Jinxed!, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1982.

Table for Five, Warner Bros., 1983.

No Small Affair, Columbia, 1984.

The River, Universal, 1984.

Real Genius, TriStar, 1985.

The Witches of Eastwick, Warner Bros., 1987.

Journey to Spirit Island, World Wide Releasing, 1988.

Fat Man and Little Boy (also known as Shadowmakers), Paramount, 1989.

The Bonfire of the Vanities, Warner Bros., 1990.

The Two Jakes, Paramount, 1990.

Scared of Guns, 1990.

(With Michael A. Benson and Kovacs) Sliver, Paramount, 1993.

Intersection, Paramount, 1994.

Maverick, Warner Bros., 1994.

Assassins (also known as Day of Reckoning), Warner Bros., 1995.

The Crossing Guard, Miramax, 1995.

The Ghost and the Darkness, Paramount, 1996.

Playing by Heart (also known as Intermedia), Miramax, 1998.

Illegal Music, 1998.

Mr. Hughes, 2000.

Ljuset haaller mig saellskap (also known as Light Keeps Me Company), First Run, 2000.

The Body, TriStar, 2001.

Life as a House, New Line Cinema, 2001.

Bank Ban, 2001.

(Second unit) Timeline, 2003.

Jersey Girl, Miramax, 2004.

Melinda and Melinda, Fox, 2004.

Film Work:

Additional photography, The Border, Universal, 1981.

Director, The Long Shadow, Israfilm/Prolitera/Novo Film, 1992.

Film Appearances:

Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography (documentary), American Film Institute, 1993.

Albert Bierstadt, Maverick, Warner Bros., 1994.

Ljuset haaller mig saellskap (also known as Light Keeps Me Company), First Run, 2000.

The Making of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," New Line Home Video, 2001.

Character Building: Inside "Life as a House," 2001.

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood, Cactus Three, 2003.

Television Cinematographer; Movies:

(As William Zsigmond) The Market, 1965.

Stalin, HBO, 1992.

Television Cinematographer; Series:

The Protectors, NBC, 1969–1970.

Television Cinematographer; Miniseries:

Flesh and Blood, CBS, 1979.

The Mists of Avalon (also known as Die Nebel von Avalon), TNT, 2001.

Television Appearances; Specials:

The 50th Annual Academy Awards, 1978.

Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western, TNT, 1997.

Final Cut: The Making of "Heaven's Gate" and the Unmaking of a Studio (documentary), TRIO Network, 2004.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers: Volume 4: Writers and Production Artists, St. James Press, 1996.

Periodicals:

American Film, November, 1990, p. 20.