Gordon Willis

Received an honorary Academy Award in 2009. Other honorees were Lauren Bacall, Roger Corman and Thalberg Award recipient John Calley.

His last film as a cinematographer was The Devil's Own (1997), directed by Alan J. Pakula.

He directed one film of his own, Windows (1980).

Gordon Willis was an American cinematographer. He's best known for his work on Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather films, as well asWoody Allen's Annie Hall (1977) and Manhattan (1979).

In the seven-year period up to 1977, Willis was the director of photography on six films that received among them 39 Academy Award nominations, winning 19 times, including three awards for Best Picture. During this time he did not receive a single nomination for Best Cinematography.

Member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) since 1975.

His work on the first two Godfather films turned out to be groundbreaking in its use of low-light photography and underexposed film, as well as in his control of lighting and exposure to create the sepia tones that denoted period scenes in The Godfather: Part II (1974).

He was the cinematographer for five films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974), All the President's Men (1976), Annie Hall (1977), The Godfather Part III (1990). Of those, The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974) and Annie Hall (1977) are winners in the category.

In a spectacular seven-year period from 1971-77, seven of the films he worked on as director of photography accumulated 39 Oscar nominations with 19 wins. Among these wins were three Best Picture winners (The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974) and Annie Hall (1977)) and six for acting (Jane Fonda, Marlon Brando, John Houseman, Robert De Niro, Jason Robards and Diane Keaton). Incredibly, Willis failed to secure a single nomination for himself during this period.