Joseph Francis Biroc, (February 12, 1903 – September 7, 1996) was an American cinematographer. Born in New York City, he entered the film industry in 1918 as a laboratory technician in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and moved to Los Angeles in 1927, where he worked as a camera operator at RKO Pictures. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, filming the Liberation of Paris in August 1944. He later worked as a freelance cinematographer at various studios and frequently collaborated with the director Robert Aldrich.
In addition to his film work, which included It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), Biroc worked on various television series, including Adventures of Superman.
Biroc won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for The Towering Inferno (1974), which he shared with Fred J. Koenekamp, having previously been nominated for Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). He also won two Primetime Emmy Awards, one for the television film Brian's Song and one for the series Casablanca. In 1988, he received the American Society of Cinematographers' Lifetime Achievement Award for his body of work.
Early life Joseph Francis Biroc was born on February 12, 1903, in New York City. He developed a passion for film in childhood. He recalled seeing his first film in 1910 on a vacant lot five blocks from his home, and said he knew from then that he wanted to spend his life making movies.
Career Early work and RKO At the age of fifteen, with his uncle's help, Biroc began his career as a film laboratory technician with Paragon Labs in Fort Lee, New Jersey, in 1918. The apprenticeship began a series of jobs at various laboratories, which was then a standard route for aspiring cinematographers.
He worked at Craftsman Labs in New York from 1920 to 1923, then briefly for Goldwyn Pictures in Culver City, California, in 1923. He then returned to New York and took a job as a film printer for Famous Players–Lasky, where he was soon promoted to assistant cameraman. After Famous Players–Lasky shut down in 1927, Biroc moved to Los Angeles to work for United Artists, before moving to RKO as a camera operator. At RKO he served as an assistant to the cinematographers Leo Tover, Robert De Grasse and Edward Cronjager, and worked on films including Cimarron (1931), Sylvia Scarlett (1935), A Woman Rebels (1936), Swing Time (1936), Shall We Dance (1937) and Five Came Back (1939), though he received no screen credit, as RKO rarely credited camera operators. His last work before World War II was Bombardier (1943).
World War II In 1943, Biroc became a motion picture cameraman in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. He filmed the Liberation of Paris in August 1944. In 1945 he filmed conditions at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany while attached to George Stevens's Special Motion Picture Coverage Unit. He rose to the rank of captain and later major.
Postwar film and television work Biroc received his first screen credit as a cinematographer on It's a Wonderful Life (1946), on which he worked alongside the cinematographer Joseph Walker. He was later the cinematographer on Bwana Devil (1952), described as the first American feature-length colour film shot in 3-D.
In 1952, Biroc began his association with the producer-director Robert Aldrich, starting with an episode of The Doctor and continuing with films such as World for Ransom (1954), Attack (1956), Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), for which he received his first Oscar nomination, The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) and The Longest Yard (1974). He also shot material for network television early on, including musical shorts featuring Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong, which was unusual for cameramen at the time. For much of the 1950s he worked mainly in television, in both black and white and colour, and he ended his career in the 1970s and 1980s working on television films, specials and miniseries.
Biroc wrote several articles on his working methods for American Cinematographer, including accounts of shooting the miniseries Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), in which sets were built with full ceilings so that they would resemble real locations, and of his work with the director Wim Wenders on Hammett (1982), where he described his approach as basic lighting and photography in the manner of earlier decades.
Death Biroc died on September 7, 1996, in Woodland Hills, California, aged 93. He was survived by a sister, Agnes Kronmeyer of Cranford, New Jersey, and four grandchildren.
Filmography Film Year Title Director Notes1929The RescueHerbert Brenonwith George Barnes & James Wong Howe1943BombardierRichard Wallace1946It's a Wonderful LifeFrank Caprawith Joseph Walker1947Magic TownWilliam A. Wellman1948On Our Merry WayLeslie FentonKing VidorMy Dear SecretaryCharles Martin1949RoughshodMark RobsonJohnny AllegroTed TetzlaffMrs. MikeLouis King1950The Killer That Stalked New YorkEarl McEvoy1951Cry DangerRobert ParrishAll That I HaveWilliam F. ClaxtonThe BushwhackersRod Amateau1952Loan SharkSeymour FriedmanWithout Warning!Arnold LavenRed Planet MarsHarry HornerBwana DevilArch Oboler1953The Tall TexanElmo WilliamsThe Glass WallMaxwell ShaneThe TwonkyArch ObolerVice SquadArnold LavenDonovan's BrainFelix E. FeistAppointment in HondurasJacques Tourneur1954Riders to the StarsRichard CarlsonUncreditedWorld for RansomRobert AldrichDown Three Dark StreetsArnold LavenThe Steel CageWalter Doniger1955BengaziJohn Brahm1956Ghost TownAllen H. MinerNightmareMaxwell ShaneQuincannon, Frontier ScoutLesley SelanderAttackRobert AldrichTension at Table RockCharles Marquis WarrenThe Black Whip1957The Ride BackAllen H. Miner The Garment JungleVincent Sherman China GateSamuel FullerRun of the Arrow The Unknown TerrorCharles Marquis WarrenThe Amazing Colossal ManBert I. GordonForty GunsSamuel Fuller1958Underwater WarriorAndrew MartonHome Before DarkMervyn LeRoyBorn RecklessHoward W. Koch1959Verboten!Samuel FullerThe BatCrane WilburThe FBI StoryMervyn LeRoy1960Ice PalaceVincent Sherman13 GhostsWilliam Castle1961Gold of the Seven SaintsGordon Douglas Operation EichmannR. G. SpringsteenThe Devil at 4 O'ClockMervyn LeRoy Sail a Crooked ShipIrving Brecher1962HitlerStuart Heisler Convicts 4Millard Kaufman Confessions of an Opium EaterAlbert Zugsmith1963Bye Bye BirdieGeorge SidneyToys In The AtticGeorge Roy HillPromises! Promises!King DonovanUnder the Yum Yum TreeDavid SwiftGunfight at Comanche CreekFrank McDonald1964Viva Las VegasGeorge SidneyRide the Wild SurfDon TaylorBullet for a BadmanR. G. SpringsteenTo Trap a SpyDon MedfordKitten with a WhipDouglas HeyesThe Young LoversSamuel Goldwyn Jr.Hush...Hush, Sweet CharlotteRobert Aldrich1965I Saw What You DidWilliam CastleThe Flight of the PhoenixRobert Aldrich1966The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are ComingNorman JewisonThe SwingerGeorge SidneyWarning ShotBuzz Kulik1967Enter LaughingCarl ReinerWho's Minding the Mint?Howard MorrisTony RomeGordon DouglasFitzwillyDelbert Mann1968The DetectiveGordon DouglasThe Legend of Lylah ClareRobert AldrichLady in CementGordon DouglasThe Killing of Sister GeorgeRobert Aldrich1969What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?Lee H. Katzin1970Too Late the HeroRobert Aldrich1971Mrs. Pollifax-SpyLeslie H. MartinsonEscape from the Planet of the ApesDon TaylorThe Grissom GangRobert AldrichThe OrganizationDon Medford1972Ulzana's RaidRobert Aldrich1973Emperor of the North PoleCahill U.S. MarshalAndrew V. McLaglen1974Blazing SaddlesMel BrooksThe Towering InfernoJohn Guillerminwith Fred J. KoenekampThe Longest YardRobert AldrichShanksWilliam Castle1975HustleRobert Aldrich1976The Duchess and the Dirtwater FoxMelvin Frank1977The ChoirboysRobert Aldrich1979Beyond the Poseidon AdventureIrwin Allen1980Airplane!1981...All the MarblesRobert Aldrich1982HammettWim Wenderswith Philip H. LathropAirplane II: The SequelKen Finkleman
Television Year Title Notes1950Dick Tracy5 episodes1952China SmithEpisode: "Straight Settlement"Four Star PlayhouseEpisode: "The Officer and the Lady"1953I'm the Law14 episodes1954The Mickey Rooney Show5 episodesDear PhoebeEpisode: "The Christmas Show"The Lone Wolf3 episodesPolice CallEpisode: "Montreal"1954-55Treasury Men in Action12 episodes1955The Man Behind the BadgeEpisode: "The Case of the Hunted Hobo"My Friend FlickaEpisode: "The Stranger"Screen Directors PlayhouseEpisode: "The Final Tribute"1955-56TV Reader's Digest3 episodes1956General Electric Summer OriginalsEpisode: "It's Sunny Again"1956-58Adventures of Superman26 episodes1957General Electric TheaterEpisode: "Mr. Kensington's Finest Hour"Alfred Hitchcock PresentsEpisode: "Silent Witness"1957-58Playhouse 903 episodes1958The Thin ManEpisode: "Unlucky Lucky Numbers"Hey, Jeannie!Episode: "The Landlord"Alcoa Theatre2 episodes1959Dick Powell's Zane Grey TheatreEpisode: "Checkmate"Richard Diamond, Private Detective4 episodesThe David Niven ShowEpisode: "The Twist of the Key"The DetectivesEpisode: "The Streger Affair"1959-60Hotel de Paree2 episodes1960The DuPont Show with June AllysonEpisode: "Escape"Goodyear TheatreEpisode: "Author at Work"1960-61Checkmate3 episodes1962-63Empire4 episodes1964The Man from U.N.C.L.E.Episode: "The Vulcan Affair"1972Ghost StoryEpisode: "The New House"1983Casablanca5 episodes1985Hell TownEpisode: "Father of Hell Town"
Television films and miniseries Year Title Notes1956Cavalry PatrolFailed pilot1958The Adventures of Superpup1971Brian's Song1972Gidget Gets MarriedPlaymatesThe Crooked Hearts1974Wonder WomanFailed pilotHonky TonkThursday's Game1976The Moneychangers1977Washington: Behind Closed Doors1977SST: Death Flight1978A Family Upside DownLittle WomenThe Clone Master1980Kenny Rogers as The GamblerScruples1982Desperate Lives1984The Jerk, Too1985A Death in California1986Outrage!A Winner Never Quits1987Time Out for Dad Refs:
Awards and nominations +InstitutionYearCategoryWorkResultAcademy Awards1965Best Cinematography (Black & White)Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte1975Best CinematographyThe Towering InfernoAmerican Society of Cinematographers1988Lifetime Achievement AwardPrimetime Emmy Awards1972Outstanding Cinematography for a Movie Made for TelevisionBrian's Song1977Outstanding Cinematography for a SeriesThe Moneychangers 1978Outstanding Cinematography for a Movie Made for TelevisionA Family Upside DownOutstanding Cinematography for a SeriesWashington: Behind Closed Doors 1979Little Women 1980Outstanding Cinematography for Limited Series or MovieKenny Rogers as The Gambler1983Outstanding Cinematography for a SeriesCasablanca 1985Outstanding Cinematography for Limited Series or MovieA Death in CaliforniaSociety of Camera Operators1986Lifetime Achievement Award
Bibliography and further reading Biroc, Joseph. "Hollywood Launches 3-D Production". American Cinematographer (Hollywood), August 1952. Biroc, Joseph. "Photographing Washington: Behind Closed Doors". American Cinematographer (Hollywood), November 1977. American Cinematographer (Hollywood), July 1981. Focus on Film (London), no. 13, 1973. Patterson, R. "On Hammett". American Cinematographer (Hollywood), November 1982. Basinger, Jeanine. The It's a Wonderful Life Book. 1987. American Cinematographer (Hollywood), March 1989. Obituary. American Cinematographer (Hollywood), November 1996. Obituary. Cinefantastique (Forest Park), vol. 28, no. 6, 1996.
References
External links
Joseph Biroc papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Biography/film work