Wong Howe Biography (1899-1976)

Real name, Wong Tung Jim; born August 28, 1899, in Kwangtung, China; immigrated to Pasco, WA, 1904; died of cancer, July 12, 1976, in Hollywood, CA; son of Wong Howe (a businessman and restaurateur); married Sanora Bobb, September16, 1949. Career: Cinematographer and director. Also worked as a professional boxer, 1914; delivery boy; bellhop; slate boy for Cecil B. DeMille; camera assistant and an assistant cameraman for Alvin Wyckoff, 1917. Member: American Society of Cinematographers. Awards, Honors: Academy Award nomination, best cinematography, 1938, for Algiers; Academy Awardnomination, best cinematography--black and white, 1940, for Abe Lincoln inIllinois; Academy Award nomination, best cinematography--black and white, 1942, for Kings Row; Academy Award nomination, best cinematography--black and white, 1943, for The North Star; Academy Award nomination, best cinematography--black and white, 1943, for Air Force(with Elmer Dyer and Charles A. Marshall); Academy Award, best cinematography--black and white, 1955, for The Rose Tattoo; Academy Award nomination, best cinematography--black and white, 1958, for The Old Man and the Sea; Academy Award, best cinematography--black and white, 1963, for Hud; Academy Award nomination, best cinematography--black and white, 1966, for Seconds; Academy Award nomination, best cinematography, 1975, for Funny Lady..

Nationality
American
Gender
Male
Occupation
Cinematographer, director
Birth Details
August 28, 1899
Kwangtung, China
Death Details
July 12, 1976
Hollywood, California, United States

Famous Works

  • CREDITS
  • Film Work
  • Cinematographer
  • (As James Howe) The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, Paramount, 1923
  • (As James Howe) Drums of Fate, Paramount, 1923
  • (As Jimmie Howe) The Woman with Four Faces, Paramount, 1923
  • (As James Howe) To the Last Man, Paramount, 1923
  • (As James Howe) The Spanish Dancer, Paramount, 1923
  • The Call of the Canyon, Paramount, 1923
  • (As James Howe) The Alaskan, Paramount, 1924
  • (As James Howe) The Breaking Point, Paramount, 1924
  • (As James Howe) The Side Show of Life, Paramount, 1924
  • Peter Pan, Paramount, 1924
  • The King on Main Street, Paramount, 1925
  • (As James Howe) The Charmer, Paramount, 1925
  • Not So Long Ago, Paramount, 1925
  • (As James Howe) The Best People, Paramount, 1925
  • (As James Howe) Padlocked, Paramount, 1926
  • Mantrap, Paramount, 1926
  • (As James Howe) The Song and Dance Man, Paramount, 1926
  • (As James Howe) Sea Horses, Paramount, 1926
  • (As James Howe) The Rough Riders, Paramount, 1927
  • Sorrell and Son, United Artists, 1927
  • Laugh, Clown, Laugh, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1928
  • (As James Howe) Perfect Crime, Film Booking Offices of America, 1928
  • Four Walls, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1928
  • (As James Howe) Desert Nights, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1929
  • (As James Howe) Today, 1930
  • Transatlantic, Fox Film Corporation, 1931
  • Surrender, Fox Film Corporation, 1931
  • The Spider, Fox Film Corporation, 1931
  • The Criminal Code, Columbia, 1931
  • The Yellow Ticket (also known as The Yellow Passport), FoxFilm Corporation, 1931
  • Man About Town, Fox Film Corporation, 1932
  • Dance Team, Fox Film Corporation, 1932
  • Chandu the Magician, Fox Film Corporation, 1932
  • Amateur Daddy, Fox Film Corporation, 1932
  • After Tomorrow, Fox Film Corporation, 1932
  • (Uncredited) Shanghai Express, Paramount Public Corporation, 1932
  • Hello, Sister (also known as Walking Down Broadway), Fox Film Corporation, 1933
  • (As James Howe) Beauty for Sale (also known as Beauty), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1933
  • The Power and the Glory, Fox Film Corporation, 1933
  • The Thin Man, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1934
  • Stamboul Quest, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1934
  • Have a Heart, 1934
  • The Show-Off, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1934
  • Viva Villa!, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1934
  • Manhattan Melodrama, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1934
  • Hollywood Party, Loew's Inc., 1934
  • Three Live Ghosts, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1935
  • O'Shaughnessy's Boy, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1935
  • The Night is Young, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1935
  • Mark of the Vampire (also known as Vampires of Prague), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1935
  • Biography of a Bachelor Girl, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1935
  • The Flame Within, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1935
  • (Uncredited) Rendezvous, Loew's Inc., 1935
  • Whipshaw, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1935
  • The Prisoner of Zenda, United Artists, 1937
  • Fire Over England, United Artists, 1937
  • Farewell Again (also known as Troopship), 1937
  • Comet Over Broadway, Warner Bros., 1938
  • Algiers, United Artists, 1938
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, United Artists, 1938
  • They Made Me a Criminal (also known as I Became a Criminaland They Made Me a Fugitive), Warner Bros., 1939
  • The Oklahoma Kid, Warner Bros., 1939
  • Daughters Courageous (also known as American Family, A Family Affair, and Family Reunion), Warner Bros., 1939
  • Dust Be My Destiny, Warner Bros., 1939
  • On Your Toes, Warner Bros., 1939
  • Torrid Zone, Warner Bros., 1940
  • Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (also known as The Story of Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet), Warner Bros., 1940
  • A Dispatch from Reuters (also known as This Man Reuter), Warner Bros., 1940
  • City for Conquest, Warner Bros., 1940
  • Abe Lincoln in Illinois (also known as Spirit of the People), RKO Radio Pictures, 1940
  • Saturday's Children, Warner Bros., 1940
  • The Strawberry Blonde, Warner Bros., 1941
  • Shining Victory, Warner Bros., 1941
  • Out of the Fog, Warner Bros., 1941
  • (Dance Sequences only) Navy Blues, Warner Bros., 1941
  • Kings Row, Warner Bros., 1942
  • The Hard Way, Warner Bros., 1942
  • Yankee Doodle Dandy, Warner Bros., 1942
  • The North Star (also known as Armored Attack), Video Yesteryear, 1943
  • Air Force, Warner Bros., 1943
  • Hangmen Also Die (also known as Lest We Forget), United Artists, 1943
  • Passage to Marseille, Warner Bros., 1944
  • Objective, Burma!, Warner Bros., 1945
  • Danger Signal, Warner Bros., 1945
  • Counter-Attack (also known as One Against Seven), Columbia,1945
  • Confidential Agent, Warner Bros., 1945
  • My Reputation, Warner Bros., 1946
  • Pursued, Warner Bros., 1947
  • Nora Prentiss, Warner Bros., 1947
  • Body and Soul (also known as An Affair of the Heart), United Artists, 1947
  • The Time of Your Life, United Artists, 1948
  • Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, RKO Radio Pictures, 1948
  • The Eagle and the Hawk (also known as Spread Eagle), Paramount, 1950
  • Tripoli (also known as The First Marines), Paramount, 1950
  • Baron of Arizona, Lippert Pictures, 1950
  • The Lady Says No, 1951
  • The Brave Bulls, Columbia, 1951
  • Behave Yourself!, RKO Radio Pictures, 1951
  • He Ran All the Way, United Artists, 1951
  • The Fighter, United Artists, 1952
  • Come Back, Little Sheba, Paramount, 1952
  • (Uncredited; additional scenes) Stazione Termini (also known as Indiscretion, Indiscretion of an American Wife, Station Terminus, Terminal Station, Terminal Station Indiscretion, and Terminus Station), Columbia, 1953
  • Main Street to Broadway, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1953
  • Jennifer, Allied Artists, 1953
  • (Uncredited) On the Waterfront, Columbia, 1954
  • The Rose Tattoo, Paramount, 1955
  • Picnic, Columbia, 1955
  • Death of a Scoundrel (also known as Diary of a Scoundrel, The Loves and Death of a Scoundrel, and Loves of a Scoundrel), 1956
  • Sweet Smell of Success, United Artists, 1957
  • Drango, United Artists, 1957
  • (Uncredited) A Farewell to Arms, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1957
  • Bell, Book and Candle, Columbia, 1958
  • The Old Man and the Sea, Warner Bros., 1958
  • The Story on Page One, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1959
  • The Last Angry Man, Columbia, 1959
  • Tess of the Storm Country, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1960
  • Song Without End (also known as Crescendo), Columbia, 1960
  • Hud, Paramount, Paramount, 1963
  • The Outrage, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1964
  • The Glory Guys, United Artists, 1965
  • Seconds, Paramount, 1966
  • This Property Is Condemned, Paramount, 1966
  • Hombre, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1967
  • The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Warner Bros., 1968
  • Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (also known as Blood Kin and The Seven Descendents of Myrtle), 1969
  • The Molly Maguires, Paramount, 1970
  • The Horseman, 1971
  • Funny Lady, Columbia, 1975
  • Director
  • Go, Man, Go!, United Artists, 1954
  • The Invisible Avenger (also known as Bourbon Street Shadows), Republic, 1958
  • Pre-Production Manager
  • I Walk the Line, Columbia, 1970
  • Film Appearances
  • Himself, James Wong Howe, A.S.C.: A Lesson in Light, 1973
  • Interviewee (archive footage), Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography (also known as Visions of Light), City Screen Ltd, 1992

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

    Books:
    • Almanac of Famous People, 6th ed., Gale (Detroit, MI), 1998.
    • International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 4: Writers and Production Artists, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996.
    • Notable Asian Americans, Gale, 1995.
    Periodicals:
    • New York Times, .*