Cinematographer for Ordinary People, Academy President Was 81 – The Hollywood Reporter

John Bailey, cinematographer Ordinary people, hard day, As best as possible And dozens of other film luminaries who endured two “exhausting” terms as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences died Friday. He was 81 years old.

Billy died In Los Angeles, his wife, Oscar-nominated film editor Carol Littleton (any. T. The floor is extra), announced.

“It is with deep sadness that I share with you that my friend and husband John Bailey passed away peacefully in his sleep early this morning,” she said in a statement. “During John’s illness, we reminisced about how we met 60 years ago and were married for 51 of those years. We shared a wonderful, adventurous life on film and made many long-lasting friendships along the way. John will live in my heart forever.”

They have worked together on more than a dozen features.

Billy, who grew up in Southern California, served as director of photography for director Paul Schrader American gigolo (1980), Cat lovers (1982), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), daylight (1987) and Mine is forever (1999) and collaborated with Lawrence Kasdan on The greatest joy (1983), Silverado (1985), Accidental tourist (1988) and Wyatt Earp (1994).

He had another fruitful relationship with director Ken Kwapis, with whom he worked on six films: Oscillations (1988), The Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants (2005), License until Wednesday (2007), He’s not into you (2009), Big miracle (2012) and He said walking into the forest (2015), where he reunited with Ordinary people Director Robert Redford.

Billy also shot Michael Apted Continental division (1981), Stuart Rosenberg Papa Greenwich Village (1984), Wolfgang Petersen In the line of fire (1993), Robert Benton No one is stupid (1994), Sam Raimi For the love of the game (1999) and Callie Khoury Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisters (2002).

In a 2020 interview with American cinematographer magazine, Billy said his philosophy was “imbued with a global perspective” – one of his pivotal films being Vittorio Storaro’s Matching (1970) – and that he had a “unique focus on the kinds of films I wanted to make, even since I was an assistant and (camera) operator.”

“I didn’t want to do flashy films,” he added. “I didn’t want to make exploitative or violent films. I really insisted, sometimes at great personal expense, literally, in terms of money, on making films that I knew were building a resume, and when I became a director of photography, that was part of my identity.

He has been a member of the Society of American Cinematographers since 1985, and received the group’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.

Bailey was also a longtime Academy Board member when Cheryl Boone succeeded Isaacs as AMPAS president in August 2017, becoming the only one to come from the cinematography branch. He won re-election the following summer before being succeeded by David Rubin in August 2019.

His tenure was marked by a significant increase in membership, especially for international and non-Hollywood people. Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, and Roman Polanski expelled from the Academy; Hosting Kevin Hart is confusing; And three moves aimed at boosting Oscar TV ratings have been torpedoed amid heavy criticism: creating a “people’s Oscar,” canceling three live performances of the show’s best songs, and sidelining speeches by four winners during commercial breaks.

“I had no idea how stressful this job would be,” he said.

The son of a mechanic, John Ira Bailey was born August 10, 1942, in Moberly, Missouri, and grew up in Norwalk, California. He edited the school newspaper at Pius X High School in Downey, California, then attended Santa Clara University and Loyola Marymount University, graduating in 1964.

He decided to pursue cinematography while spending two years at the University of Southern California in their new film studies graduate program.

Billy spent over a decade as an apprentice cinematographer/camera operator for the likes of Nestor Almendros, Vilmos Zsigmond, and Charles Roscher Jr. on films such as Monte Hellman. Two-track Blacktop (1971), Terrence Malick Days of heaven (1976) and Robert Altman Late Show And 3 womenBoth were released in 1977.

The first studio feature he shot as DP was Boulevard Nights (1979) Directed by Michael Pressman.

Billy achieved great success when he worked on two films in a row – the elegant neo-noir American gigoloIt is the third film directed by Schrader, and it won the Academy Award for Best Picture Ordinary peopleRedford’s directorial debut – were released within seven months of each other in 1980.

Boulevard Nights Producer Tony Bell had recommended Bailey to Redford. “Not a lot of first-time directors at the time would hire an inexperienced cinematographer, but Redford certainly had the experience and confidence (from his years as an actor) to do it,” Bailey said in 2015 on an ASC podcast.

For Billy, the script was always of paramount importance when it came to getting a job, and he had great scripts to work on hard day (1993), co-written by director Harold Ramis, and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture As best as possible (1997), co-written by director James L. Brooks.

His biography in the field of cinematography is also included Honky Tonk Highway (1981), This championship season (1982), Without leaving a trace (1983), Race with the moon (1984), Brighton Beach Diaries (1986), Swim to Cambodia (1987), My blue paradise (1990), Very high standards (1996), Live out loud (1998), Anniversary party (2001), How to lose a guy in 10 days (2003), Producers (2005) and The way is the way back (2013).

Billy has also directed a number of films, including Lily Tomlin Searching for signs of intelligent life in the universe (1991), China Moon (1994), Mariette is ecstatic (1996) and Through pain (2000).

Bailey said he sought the Academy presidency primarily to support the organization’s film archive, Margaret Herrick Library, Nicol screenwriting and world cinema programs. “I didn’t want to worry about the Oscars too much,” he said in 2021. “The studios are investing in the Oscars, and the studios will be sure to take care of the Oscars themselves, one way or another.”

“Everyone seems to have an idea — and they think their idea is the best — about what the Oscars should be like. The sheer ridiculousness, coupled with the arrogance that sometimes comes with it, especially on the part of some of the trade and media pundits… it’s really bothered me this whole Oscar season.” Day after day, I had to read the nonsense of some of these journalists who said they knew how to fix the Oscars.

He and Littleton, who is set to receive an honorary Oscar at the belated Governors Awards in January, have no children.

“All of us at the Academy are deeply saddened to learn of John’s passing,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Young said in a joint statement. “John was a passionately involved member of the Academy and the film community. He served as our President and Governor of the Academy for many years and played a leadership role in the Cinematographers Chapter. His influence and contributions to the film community will forever be remembered. Our thoughts and support are with Carol at this time.”

Donations in his memory may be made to the Academy Foundation.

Bailey said his formative years in Hollywood taught him that becoming a successful cinematographer depended more on simply learning how to operate equipment.

“It’s about learning how people work together, establishing relationships, dealing with pressures and the kind of unexpected incidents and gifts you’re given day in and day out, and developing a perspective that when you go to work in the morning, don’t implement a blueprint based on storyboards or discussions,” he said. Or anything.” “You are in a living, changing, spontaneous human flow. Anything could happen at any moment.”