19 Facts About Gilbert Taylor

Gilbert Taylor was best known for his work in films like Dr Strangelove, The Omen, and Star Wars, having collaborated with directors like Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, and Mike Hodges.

Gilbert Taylor was nominated for two BAFTA Awards, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Society of Cinematographers.

The son of a Hertfordshire builder, Taylor grew up in Bushey Heath.

In 1929, Gilbert Taylor worked on the studio's final two silent films.

Gilbert Taylor then worked at Elstree for British International Pictures, where he was clapper loader on the Alfred Hitchcock film Number Seventeen.

Gilbert Taylor was keen for the public to see what our lads were doing.

From this point, Gilbert Taylor began to use bounced and reflected light gaining a more naturalistic look, whereas the use of direct light was still the common practice by his contemporaries.

Gilbert Taylor worked on a number of films commended for their black and white photography, such as Stanley Kubrick's Dr Strangelove and Richard Lester's A Hard Day's Night.

Gilbert Taylor commented later: "Strangelove was at the time a unique experience because the lighting was to be incorporated in the sets, with little or no other light used".

Gilbert Taylor continued: "Much of it was the same formula based on the overheads as fill and blasting in the key on faces from the side".

In committing to the Polish director's first English-language film, Gilbert Taylor rejected the opportunity to work on a Bond film because he thought Polanski "was a very interesting guy".

Gilbert Taylor received BAFTA nominations over two consecutive years for the first two collaborations.

Gilbert Taylor found George Lucas an elusive person to consult, leading Gilbert Taylor to make his own decisions as how to shoot the picture after multiple readings of the script.

Differences of opinion between the director and cinematographer led to 20th Century Fox, for whom Gilbert Taylor had shot The Omen, intervening to retain him on the picture.

Gilbert Taylor was a founder member of the British Society of Cinematographers, receiving their lifetime achievement award in 2001.

Gilbert Taylor received an international award from the American Society of Cinematographers in 2006.

Gilbert Taylor met his wife, former script supervisor Dee Vaughan, while both were working on comedian Tony Hancock's film, The Punch and Judy Man, and married in 1967.

Gilbert Taylor had a son and daughter from an earlier marriage.

Gilbert Taylor died on 23 August 2013, aged 99, at his home on the Isle of Wight.