Gilbert Taylor

Gilbert Taylor (sometimes credited as Gil Taylor; member of the BSC), born April 12, 1914 in Bushey, Hertfordshire, and died August 23, 2013 in Newport, Isle of Wight, was an English cinematographer. In film, from 1930 to 1948, Gilbert Taylor was a first assistant cameraman and then a camera oper... More

Gilbert Taylor (sometimes credited as Gil Taylor; member of the BSC), born April 12, 1914 in Bushey, Hertfordshire, and died August 23, 2013 in Newport, Isle of Wight, was an English cinematographer. In film, from 1930 to 1948, Gilbert Taylor was a first assistant cameraman and then a camera operator. He became a cinematographer on his first film in 1945 (as an associate), before working regularly in this position from 1948 onward, contributing to some sixty films (mostly British, plus a few American films or co-productions), the last of which was released in 1994. He notably collaborated with directors John and Roy Boulting (e.g., The King's Sailor, a 1953 co-production with Jeffrey Hunter, Michael Rennie, and Wendy Hiller), Alfred Hitchcock (Frenzy in 1972, with Jon Finch and Barry Foster), Stanley Kubrick (e.g., Dr. Strangelove in 1964, with Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, and Sterling Hayden), and Roman Polanski (e.g., Repulsion in 1966, with Catherine Deneuve and Ian Hendry). One of his best-known American films is Episode IV (the first released, in 1977, then titled Star Wars in French) of George Lucas's Star Wars saga. On television, between 1966 and 1978, Gilbert Taylor was director of photography on four series (including The Avengers, the first series) and two TV movies. In addition, in his only experience in this capacity, he directed an episode (broadcast in 1969) of the series Department S. Two of the films in which he worked alongside Roman Polanski, Repulsion (mentioned above) and Bag End (1966, with Françoise Dorléac and Donald Pleasence), each earned him a nomination for the British Academy Film Award for Best Cinematography.