Gilbert Taylor Biography

Fast Facts

• Honored by the American Society of Cinematographers in 2006 with the organization's International Award
• Given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the British Society of Cinematographers in 2001
• Honored with a Special Award in 1978 for his work on "Star Wars" by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films
• Quote: "I am most happy to be remembered as the man who set the look for 'Star Wars'․ I wanted to give it a unique visual style that would distinguish itself from other films in the science-fiction genre․"
• Quote: "George [Lucas] avoided all meetings and contact with me from day one, so I read the extra-long script many times and made my own decisions as to how I would shoot the picture․ I took it upon myself to experiment with photographing the lightsabers and other things onstage before we moved on to our two weeks of location work in Tunisia․"
• Quote: "I was fortunate enough to always be in command during my career as a director of photography, and my work is there for all to see․ I feel very satisfied that people are still so interested in my films․"
• Quote: "(On his wartime photographs) "This was requested by Winston Churchill, and my material was delivered to 10 Downing Street for him to view․ He was keen for the public to see what our lads were doing․""
• Quote: "(When he realized he did not want to become an employee of his father's construction firm for which he was being groomed) "At the age of 15, I was studying to be an architect but didn’t want to be an architect and didn't want to go into the building trade․""
• Focused mainly on features throughout his career and only briefly worked in television with "The Avengers" and select others
• Best remembered for his work on films such as "Star Wars", "Dr․ Strangelove" and "The Omen"
• Served as an officer in WWII with the Royal Air Force where he worked as aircraft cameraman
• Interviewed and showcased in Scarecrow Press's book titled Conversations with Cinematographers as an industry expert