James Wong Howe Biography

Fast Facts

• Was best known for filming in black and white, which earned him two Academy Awards for black and white film, and later when he transferred to color he won another Academy Award
• Bought a Kodak Brownie camera from a drugstore when he was 12 years old, and this sparked his interest into being a photographer and going into the field of filming
• Quote: "[on Humphery Bogart] "Believe me, ninety-nine percent of the people in Hollywood go through life and never say what they mean, but Bogart just wasn't like that․ There was no baloney about him․""
• Before working with film he had many odd jobs, one of them being taking publicity stills for the stars of Hollywood which would launch his career into cinematography
• Over the length of his whole career, he was known for making actresses look beautiful with just lighting and at times would place gauze over the lens to soften features
• The very first picture he took was of his siblings, but due to the fact that his camera did not have a view finder, their heads were cut off from the picture
• Often times when credited he would be listed as Chinese cameraman, and did not receive his U․S․ citizenship until 1943 when the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed