Arthur J. Ornitz (November 28, 1916 – July 10, 1985) was an American cinematographer.

Early life

Ornitz was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the son of Sadie (née Lesser) and screenwriter

Samuel Ornitz Samuel Badisch Ornitz (November 15, 1890 – March 10, 1957) was an American screenwriter and novelist from New York City; he was one of the "Hollywood Ten"Obituary ''Variety'', March 13, 1957, page 63. who were blacklisted from the 1950s on by ...

, the Hollywood Ten blacklistee. He had a brother,

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

, who was a photographer. Ornitz studied film at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Career

Ornitz made his directing debut with short film '' Wanted – A Master'' (1936), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (One-Reel). Among other films, he shot films such as '' The Connection'' (1961), ''

A Thousand Clowns ''A Thousand Clowns'' is a 1965 American comedy-drama film directed by Fred Coe and starring Jason Robards, Barbara Harris, Martin Balsam, and Barry Gordon. An adaptation of a 1962 play by Herb Gardner, it tells the story of an eccentric comedy ...

'' (1965), '' Charly'' (1968), '' The Boys in the Band'' (1970), ''

The Anderson Tapes ''The Anderson Tapes'' is a 1971 American crime film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Sean Connery and featuring Dyan Cannon, Martin Balsam and Alan King. The screenplay was written by Frank Pierson, based upon a best-selling 1970 nov ...

'', ''

Minnie and Moskowitz ''Minnie and Moskowitz'' is a 1971 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cassavetes and starring his wife Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassel in the title roles of Minnie and Moskowitz, respectively. Plot Seymour Moskow ...

'' (both 1971), '' Serpico'' (1973), ''

Death Wish Death Wish or Deathwish may refer to: Common meanings *Suicidal ideation, term for thoughts about killing oneself *Death drive, term in Freudian psychiatry Arts and entertainment Radio *"Death Wish", a 1957 episode of the radio series ''X Minus ...

'' (1974), '' Next Stop, Greenwich Village'' (1976), '' An Unmarried Woman'' (1978), and '' Hanky Panky'' (1982).

Death

Ornitz died of cancer at his home in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York, on July 10, 1985. He was survived by his mother, his wife and a son. Ornitz's son, Kim H. Ornitz, is a sound mixer.

References

External links

* 1916 births 1985 deaths American cinematographers Deaths from cancer in New York (state) People from Manhattan People from New York City {{US-cinematographer-stub