Karl Struss Biography (1886-1981)

Full name, Karl Fischer Struss; born November 30, 1886, in New York, NY; diedDecember 16, 1981, in Santa Monica, CA; father an owner of a bonnet-wire factory; married Ethel Wall, 1921. Career: Cinematographer. Famous Players-Lasky, Hollywood, CA, began as still photographer, became camera operator,1919-22; cinematographer, beginning in 1922; Pictorial Photographers of America, cofounder. Still photography exhibited throughout his career, including ashow at University of Michigan. Worked in family bonnet-wire factory, 1903-14; studio photographer, New York City, 1914-17. Military service: Served 1917-19. Awards, Honors: Shared Academy Award, best cinematography(with Charles Rosher), 1927, for Sunrise; Academy Award nominations, best cinematography, 1928, for Drums of Love, 1931, for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and 1932, for The Sign of the Cross; shared Academy Award nomination, best color cinematography (with Wilfred M. Cline and WilliamE. Snyder), 1941, for Aloma of the South Seas..

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Cinematographer
Birth Details: November 30, 1886; New York, New York, United States
Death Details: December 16, 1981; Santa Monica, California, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Work
Cinematographer, Unless Otherwise Noted
Something to Think About,1920
The Affairs of Anatol,1921
(With others) Fool's Paradise,1921
(With others) Minnie,1922
The Law and the Woman,1922
(With others) Saturday Night,1922
(With others) Fools First,1922
Rich Men's Wives,1922
Thorns and Orange Blossoms,1922
Poor Men's Wives,1923
The Hero,1923
Daughters of the Rich,1923
Mothers-in-Law,1923
Maytime,1923
Poisoned Paradise(also known as Poisoned Paradise: The Forbidden Story of Monte Carlo), 1924
Legend of Hollywood,1924
White Man,1924
Idle Tongues,1924
The Winding Stair,1925
(With others) Sparrows,1926
Hell's 400,1926
Meet the Prince,1926
Forever After,1926
(With others) Ben-Hur(also known as Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ), 1926
Babe Comes Home,1927
(With Charles Rosher) Sunrise(also known as Sunrise: A Song ofTwo Humans), 1927
(With others) Drums of Love, United Artists, 1928
Night Watch,1928
(With others) The Battles of the Sexes,1928
Lady of the Pavements,1929
Coquette,1929
The Taming of the Shrew,1929
Lummox,1930
(With others) Be Yourself!,1930
One Romantic Night,1930
The Bad One,1930
(With others) Danger Lights,1930
Abraham Lincoln,1930
Women Love Once,1931
Up Pops the Devil,1931
The Road to Reno,1931
Murder by the Clock,1931
Kiki,1931
Skippy,1931
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,1931
World and the Flesh,1932
Two Kinds of Women,1932
The Sign of the Cross, Paramount, 1932
The Man from Yesterday,1932
Guilty as Hell(also known as Guilty as Charged), 1932
Forgotten Commandments,1932
Dancers in the Dark,1932
Woman Accused,1933
The Torch Singer(also known as Broadway Singer), 1933
The Story of Temple Drake,1933
Island of Lost Souls,1933

Girl Missing,1933
The Girl in 419(also known as Identity Unknown), 1933
Disgraced!,1933
Tonight Is Ours,1933
The Pursuit of Happiness,1934
Here Is My Heart,1934
Four Frightened People,1934
Belle of the Nineties,1934
Two for Tonight,1935
Goin' to Town,1935
Too Many Parents,1936
Preview Murder Mystery,1936
Hollywood Boulevard,1936
Anything Goes(also known as Tops Is the Limit), 1936
Rhythm on the Range,1936
Go West Young Man,1936
Thunder Trail(also known as Thunder Pass), 1937
Mountain Music,1937
Let's Make a Million,1937
Double or Nothing,1937
Waikiki Wedding,1937
Every Day's a Holiday,1937
Thanks for the Memory,1938
Sing You Sinners,1938
Zenobia(also known as Elephants Never Forget), 1939
The Star Maker,1939
Some Like It Hot(also known as Rhythm Romance), 1939
Paris Honeymoon,1939
Island of Lost Men,1939
The Great Dictator, United Artists, 1940
Caught in the Draft,1941
(With Wilfred M. Cline and William E. Snyder) Aloma of the South Seas, Paramount, 1941
Journey into Fear,1942
(With others) Riding High(also known as Melody Inn), 1943
(With others) Happy Go Lucky,1943
Rainbow Island,1944
And the Angels Sing,1944
Second unit photographer, For Whom the Bell Tolls,1944
Bring On the Girls,1945
Tarzan and the Leopard Woman,1946
Suspense,1946
Mr. Ace,1946
(With others) The Macomber Affair,1947
Heaven Only Knows(also known as Montana Mike), 1947
Siren of Atlantis,1948
The Dude Goes West,1948
Call of the Forest,1949
Bad Boy(also known as The Story of Danny Lester), 1949
Tarzan's Magic Fountain,1949
Rocketship X-M(also known as Expedition Moon), 1950
The Return of Jesse James,1950
It's a Small World,1950
The Texan Meets Calamity Jane,1950
Father's Wild Game,1950
Tarzan's Peril(also known as Tarzan and the Jungle Goddess), 1951
Tarzan's Savage Fury(also known as Tarzan, the Hunted),1952
Lady Possessed,1952
Rose of Cimarron,1952
"The Secret Shame," Face to Face,1952
Limelight,1952
(With others) Un Turco Napoletano,1953
Tarzan and the She-Devil,1953
(With others) Il Piu Comico Spettacolo del Mondo,1953
(With others) Due Notti con Cleopatra(also known as Two Nightswith Cleopatra), 1953
(With others) Cavalleria Rusticana(also known as Fatal Desire), 1953
Mesa of Lost Women(also known as Lost Women and Lost Women of Zarpa), 1953
(Camera operator, with others) Attila(also known as Attila theHun and Attila, il Flagello di Dio), Embassy Picture Corp., 1955
Mohawk,1956
She Devil,1957
Kronos(also known as Kronos, Destroyer of the Universe), Twentieth Century- Fox, 1957
The Deerslayer, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1957
The Rawhide Trail,1958
Machete,1958
The Hot Angel,1958
The Fly, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1958
The Sad Horse,1959
The Rebel Set(also known as Beatsville), 1959
Counterplot,1959
The Alligator People, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1959
Here Come the Jets, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1959
Television Work
Cinematographer
Broken Arrow,1950
My Friend Flicka,1957
WRITINGS
Author of the catalog Pictured with the Struss Pictorial Lens,[NewYork City], 1915. Contributor to books, including Sources of Light, edited by Charles Higham, [London], 1970. Contributor of articles and photographs to periodicals, including American Cinematographer, American Photography, and Journal of Popular Film.

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, November, 1996,Volume 4: Writers and Production Artists, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1993, pp. 724-26.

Periodicals:

Afterimage, p. 7.*

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