László Kovács
ASC (; 14 May 1933 – 22 July 2007) was a
Hungarian-American cinematographer, known for his influential work in the development of the
American New Wave of films in the 1970s, he collaborated with many known directors, especially
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started out his career as a young actor studying under Stella Adler before working as a film critic for ''Fi ...
and
Richard Rush.
Kovács was the recipient of numerous awards, including three
Lifetime Achievement Awards. He was also an active member of the
American Society of Cinematographers
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of cinem ...
and a member of the organization's board of directors.
Early life
Born in
Cece,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, to Julianna and Imre Kovács, Kovács studied cinema at the
Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest
The Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest (, SZFE) is an educational institution founded in 1865 in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867), Hungary. It became a university in 2000 and the name was changed to University of Theatre and Film Arts ...
between 1952 and 1956.
[ Together with Vilmos Zsigmond, a fellow student and lifelong friend, Kovács secretly filmed the day-to-day development of the ]Hungarian Revolution of 1956
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...
on black and white 35 mm movie film
35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on film, 35 mm is the most commonly used gauge. The name of the gauge is not a direct measurement, and refers to the nominal width of the ...
, using an Arriflex
Arri Group () (stylized as "ARRI") is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. It ...
camera borrowed from their school.[Bob Fisher]
"Laszlo Kovacs, ASC... It’s a Wonderful Life"
, ICG Magazine, International Cinemaographers Guils, December 1998Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
to have it developed, and they arrived in the United States in March 1957 to sell the footage.[ By that time, however, the revolution was no longer considered newsworthy and it was not until some years later, in 1961, that it was screened on the CBS television network, in a ]documentary
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
narrated by Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trust ...
.
Kovács decided to settle in the United States, becoming a naturalized
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...
citizen in 1963. He worked at several manual labor jobs, including making maple syrup
Maple syrup is a sweet syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Ma ...
and printing microfilm
A microform is a scaled-down reproduction of a document, typically either photographic film or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original d ...
documents in an insurance office, before making several " no-budget" and "low-budget
A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor.
Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream circuit with inexperienced o ...
" films with Vilmos Zsigmond, including '' The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies''. At the time Kovács would be credited as Leslie Kovacs and Zsigmond as William Zsigmond.
Film career
Kovács' breakthrough came with the 1969 film ''Easy Rider'', starring and directed by Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. He was considered one of the key figures of New Hollywood. He earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Internatio ...
. Kovács was reluctant to work on this film at first, having already worked on a number of B movie
A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...
biker films, such as '' Hells Angels on Wheels''. Hopper ultimately convinced Kovács that this film would be different and Kovács signed on as the film's director of photography. He earned second place for the Best Cinematographer Golden Laurel at the 1970 Laurel Awards
The Laurel Awards were American cinema awards that honored films, actors, actresses, producers, directors, and composers. This award was created by the ''Motion Picture Exhibitor'' magazine, and ran from 1948 to 1971 (with the exception of 196 ...
. In 1970, he again worked with Hopper on the film '' The Last Movie''. That same year, Kovács filmed ''Five Easy Pieces
''Five Easy Pieces'' is a 1970 American road drama film directed by Bob Rafelson, written by Rafelson and Carole Eastman (as Adrien Joyce), and starring Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Susan Anspach, Lois Smith, and Ralph Waite. The film tell ...
'', for which he received the third place Golden Laurel for Best Cinematographer.
Kovács filmed more than 70 motion pictures. Among these were six films for director Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started out his career as a young actor studying under Stella Adler before working as a film critic for ''Fi ...
: ''Targets
''Targets'' is a 1968 American crime thriller film directed by Peter Bogdanovich in his theatrical directorial debut, and starring Tim O'Kelly, Boris Karloff, Nancy Hsueh, Bogdanovich, James Brown, Arthur Peterson and Sandy Baron. The film ...
'', '' What's Up, Doc?'', '' Paper Moon'', '' At Long Last Love'', ''Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
'', and ''Mask
A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...
''. Bogdanovich worked with Kovács more times than any other cinematographer.[ ]
Other notable films Kovács photographed include '' For Pete's Sake'', ''Shampoo
Shampoo () is a hair care product, typically in the form of a viscous liquid, that is formulated to be used for cleaning (scalp) hair. Less commonly, it is available in solid bar format. (" Dry shampoo" is a separate product.) Shampoo is use ...
'', ''New York, New York
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...
'', ''Ghostbusters
''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...
'', '' Ruby Cairo'', '' Say Anything...'', '' Radio Flyer'', '' My Best Friend's Wedding'', and '' Miss Congeniality''. He also did additional photography on ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind
''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film, science fiction drama film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François ...
'', ''The Last Waltz
''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group the Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as the Band's "farewell concert a ...
'' and '' The Rose''.
When working on ''The Last Waltz,'' camera operators were instructed to turn their cameras off at different intervals, in order to save battery life. One of these instances was during Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...
' set, but Waters' outstanding performance led director Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
to spontaneously change his mind, and ordered all cameras to be turned on. Because the cameras took several minutes to fully warm up, most caught only the last few bars of Waters' performance. Kovács, however, either did not hear or disregarded orders to shut down his camera, and was the only cameraman on set who managed to film Waters' entire performance.
Kovács' final work appears in '' Torn from the Flag'', a 2006 feature documentary about the 1956 Hungarian Revolution which incorporates original footage he and Zsigmond shot as film students before fleeing to the United States.
Personal life
On July 22, 2007, Kovács died at his home in Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
, California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
at the age of 74. At the time of his death, Kovács had been married for 23 years to his wife, Audrey. He had two daughters, Julianna and Nadia, and a granddaughter, Mia.[
]
Awards and honors
In 1995 he was a member of the jury at the 19th Moscow International Film Festival.Hawaii International Film Festival
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...
and a Hollywood Film Award at the 2001 Hollywood Film Festival.
The American Society of Cinematographers dedicated the 2008 Heritage Award for top student filmmakers in memory of Kovács.
The 2008 documentary film '' No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos'' explores the 50-year friendship between Kovács and Zsigmond and their influence on filmmaking. Film critic Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...
said that, without Kovács and fellow cinematographer Zsigmond, "the American New Wave of the late 1960s and early '70s wouldn’t have flowered as it did.""Documentary About Kovacs And Zsigmond To Premiere At Cannes"
, ''The American Society of Cinematographers Magazine'', May 8, 2008, retrieved 2009-02-27
Filmography
Film
I Credited as "Lester Kovacs"
II Credited as "Art Radford"
III Credited as "Leslie Kovacs"
IV Credited as "Leslie Kovacks"
V Credited as "Leslie Kouvacs"
Short film
Television
Documentary works
Film
V Credited as "Leslie Kouvacs"
TV series
* '' National Geographic Specials'' (1965)
* ''The March of Time
''The March of Time'' is an American newsreel series sponsored by Time Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was based on a radio news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945 that was produced by advertising agency Batten, Barton, ...
'' (1965)
TV movies
III Credited as "Leslie Kovacs"
References
External links
*
Brief biography and credits
*
*Giardina, Carolyn. (2007)
Cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs dies at 74
The Hollywood Reporter
at th
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
Independent Lens
''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrenc ...
, PBS broadcast November 17, 2009.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacs, Laszlo
1933 births
2007 deaths
Hungarian cinematographers
Hungarian emigrants to the United States
American cinematographers
People from Fejér County
Deaths from pancreatic cancer in California