Robert Burks

Robert Burks, A.S.C. (4 July 1909 – 13 May 1968) was an American cinematographer known for being proficient in virtually every genre and equally at home with black-and-white or color.

Burks began his career as a special effects technician in the late 1930s before becoming a director of photography in the mid-1940s. His first credit in this field was Jammin' the Blues (1944), a short film featuring leading jazz musicians of the day.

Burks collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on twelve of the director's films. Beginning with Strangers on a Train in 1951, which secured him an Oscar nomination, through Marnie in 1964, he shot every Hitchcock film except Psycho in 1960. Additional credits include The Fountainhead, Beyond the Forest, The Glass Menagerie, The Spirit of St. Louis, The Music Man, and A Patch of Blue.

Burks won an Oscar for his work on Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief (1955).

Burks and his wife died in a house fire in 1968.

Academy Award for Best Cinematography (1941–1960)
  • Arthur C. Miller / Ernest Palmer (1941)
  • Joseph Ruttenberg / Leon Shamroy (1942)
  • Arthur C. Miller / Hal Mohr (1943)
  • Joseph LaShelle / Leon Shamroy (1944)
  • Harry Stradling / Leon Shamroy (1945)
  • Arthur C. Miller / Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith, and Arthur E. Arling (1946)
  • Guy Green / Jack Cardiff (1947)
  • William H. Daniels / Joseph A. Valentine, William V. Skall, and Winton Hoch (1948)
  • Paul Vogel / Winton Hoch (1949)
  • Robert Krasker / Robert L. Surtees (1950)
  • William C. Mellor / Alfred Gilks and John Alton (1951)
  • Robert L. Surtees / Winton Hoch and Archie Stout (1952)
  • Burnett Guffey / Loyal Griggs (1953)
  • Boris Kaufman / Milton R. Krasner (1954)
  • James Wong Howe / Robert Burks (1955)
  • Joseph Ruttenberg / Lionel Lindon (1956)
  • Jack Hildyard (1957)
  • Sam Leavitt / Joseph Ruttenberg (1958)
  • William C. Mellor / Robert L. Surtees (1959)
  • Freddie Francis / Russell Metty (1960)
  • Complete list
  • (1928–1940)
  • (1941–1960)
  • (1961–1980)
  • (1981–2000)
  • (2001–2020)
Authority control
  • VIAF: 22330656
Persondata
Name Burks, Robert
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth 4 July 1909
Place of birth
Date of death 13 May 1968
Place of death