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, .*

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