John Allen Daviau (June 14, 1942 – April 15, 2020) was an American cinematographer known for his collaborations with Steven Spielberg on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), The Color Purple (1985), and Empire of the Sun (1987). He received five Academy Award nominations and two British Academy Film Award nominations, with one win. In addition to his work in film, Daviau served as Cinematographer-in-Residence at UCLA.

Career Daviau was born on June 14, 1942, in New Orleans, and raised in Los Angeles. He graduated from Loyola High School in 1960. He entered the profession shooting music videos in the years before MTV, among them films for the Animals and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

He was introduced to Steven Spielberg in the late 1960s and the two went on to work together on two early short films. The first, Amblin' (1968), was Spielberg's first film shot on 35 mm, a 26-minute short carried by music and sound effects rather than dialogue; Spielberg later said the two had begun their careers side by side on it. They continued their professional working career by collaborating on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982); "Kick the Can," a segment from Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), The Color Purple (1985), an episode of the NBC anthology series Amazing Stories titled "Ghost Train" (1985), and Empire of the Sun (1987).

Daviau's work also includes John Schlesinger's The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), the Spielberg-produced Harry and the Hendersons (1987), Albert Brooks' Defending Your Life (1991), Barry Levinson's Avalon (1990) and Bugsy (1991), Peter Weir's Fearless (1993), Frank Marshall's Congo (1995), Rand Ravich's The Astronaut's Wife (1999) and Stephen Sommers' Van Helsing (2004), his final feature. He also photographed the Gobi desert sequence for Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

He received lifetime achievement awards from the Art Directors Guild in 1997 and the American Society of Cinematographers in 2007.

Daviau shot thousands of commercials, documentaries, industrials and educational films, and created psychedelic special-effects lighting for Roger Corman's The Trip (1967) before he gained entry into the International Photographers Guild.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial While doing a lawnmower commercial in Arizona, Daviau learned that Spielberg was looking for a cinematographer for E.T. and sent the director a tape of The Boy Who Drank Too Much, a 1980 telefilm that he shot. "It had a lot of mood, and it's about kids, so I knew Steven would watch it!" Daviau said. Spielberg stated that he contacted Daviau for his next feature, saying, "I did something I rarely do. I didn't think twice; I picked up the phone and asked Allen if he would photograph my next feature."

In preparing the film the two screened pictures together, among them The Night of the Hunter, Alien, Apocalypse Now and Last Tango in Paris, to settle on an approach.

Personal life and death Daviau was cousins with author Anne Rice.Anne Rice on Facebook Following a surgical procedure in 2012, Daviau began using a wheelchair. He died on April 15, 2020, at the age of 77, as a result of complications from COVID-19 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital. The hospital had been his home for several years, and he was the fourth resident there to die of the disease.

Filmography Short film Year Title Director Notes 1968 Amblin' Steven Spielberg 1975 Names of Sin Rolf Forsberg1983 Kick the Can Steven SpielbergSegments of Twilight Zone: The Movie It's a Good Life Joe Dante 2000 The Translator Leslie Anne Smith 2001 Sweet Elyse Couvillion 2002 The Routine Bob Giraldi2004 ASC-DCI StEM Also writer How to Be a Hollywood Player in Less Than Ten Minutes Joe Hudson 2010 The Caretaker 3D Sean Isroelit With Svetlana Cvetko

Documentary film Year Title Director Notes 1971 Say Goodbye David H. Vowell 1973 New Gladiators Bob Hammer With John Hora 2004 Olive or Twist 2004 Peter Moody With Tchell De Paepe, Joachim Hanwright and Michael Knight

Feature film Year Title Director 1973 The Brothers O'Toole Richard Erdman 1974 Mother Tiger Mother Tiger Rolf Forsberg1982 Harry Tracy, Desperado William A. Graham E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Steven Spielberg1985 The Falcon and the Snowman John Schlesinger The Color PurpleSteven Spielberg1987 Empire of the Sun Harry and the Hendersons William Dear 1990 Avalon Barry Levinson1991 Defending Your Life Albert Brooks Bugsy Barry Levinson 1993 Fearless Peter Weir 1995 Congo Frank Marshall 1999 The Astronaut's Wife Rand Ravich 2004 Van Helsing Stephen Sommers

TV movies Year Title Director 1974 Mooch Goes to Hollywood Richard Erdman 1979 The Streets of L.A. Jerrold Freedman1980 The Boy Who Drank Too Much Rage! William Graham 1983 Legs Jerold Freedman

TV series Year Title Director Episode 1982 McDonaldland Lee Chapman "Skating" 1985 Amazing Stories Steven Spielberg "Ghost Train" 1996 International Cinematographer's Guild Heritage Series Jay Nefcy "Vittorio Storaro"

Awards and nominations Organization Year Category Title Result Academy Awards 1982Best Cinematography E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1985 The Color Purple 1987 Empire of the Sun 1990 Avalon 1991 Bugsy American Society of Cinematographers 1987Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography Empire of the Sun 1990 Avalon 1991 Bugsy BAFTA Film Awards 1982Best Cinematography E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1987 Empire of the Sun Boston Society of Film Critics 1982 Best Cinematography E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association1991 Best CinematographyBugsy National Society of Film Critics Best Cinematography New York Film Critics Circle 1987 Best Cinematography Empire of the Sun

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