Lucien Ballard, the cinematographer best known for his collaboration with director Sam Peckinpah on such films as The Wild Bunch (1969), was born in Miami, Oklahoma. Ballard became a wanderer after dropping out of the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania and the University of Oklahoma, journeying to China in search of opportunity. When he ...
October 1, 1988, Rancho Mirage, California, United States
Place Of Birth
Miami, Oklahoma, USA
Profession
Cinematographer, Camera Department, Miscellaneous Crew
Spouse
Inez Ethel Pokorny (m. 1949–1982), Merle Oberon (m. 1945–1949), Margaret J. McLellan (m. 1928–1944)
Awards
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
Star Sign
Taurus
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Quote
1
[on making The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960)] We wanted to go for an authentic atmosphere for the 1920s where the film was showing. So after seeing some of the rushes, the producer went to Boetticher [director Budd Boetticher] and said, "I thought you said Ballard was a great cameraman - this looks like it was shot in 1920!" And Budd said, "It's SUPPOSED to look like it was shot in 1920!"
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Fact
1
According to Henryk Hoffmann's 'A' Western Filmmakers: A Biographical Dictionary, Lucien Ballard was part Cherokee (p. 189).
2
Member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).
3
Designed a special spotlight to light then-wife Merle Oberon's face that had sustained scars in a near-fatal car crash in London in 1937. The device known as the "Obie" (Oberon's nickname) is usually mounted next to the camera where it lights the subject's face head on, thus reducing the incidence of unflattering facial lines and shadows.
Cinematographer
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Getaway
1972
director of photography
Arruza
1972
Documentary
Junior Bonner
1972
director of photography
What's the Matter with Helen?
1971
director of photography
Elvis: That's the Way It Is
1970
Documentary director of photography
The Hawaiians
1970
director of photography
The Ballad of Cable Hogue
1970
director of photography
A Time for Dying
1969
director of photography
The Wild Bunch
1969
director of photography
True Grit
1969
director of photography
How Sweet It Is!
1968
The Party
1968
director of photography
Will Penny
1967
Hour of the Gun
1967
director of photography
ABC Stage 67
1966
TV Series 1 episode
An Eye for an Eye
1966
Nevada Smith
1966
director of photography
Elfego Baca: Six Gun Law
1966
Boeing, Boeing
1965
director of photography
The Sons of Katie Elder
1965
director of photography
Dear Brigitte
1965
Roustabout
1964
director of photography
The New Interns
1964
Take Her, She's Mine
1963
director of photography
Wall of Noise
1963
director of photography
Wives and Lovers
1963
The Caretakers
1963
director of photography
The Rifleman
1963
TV Series 1 episode
The Dick Powell Theatre
1961-1963
TV Series 4 episodes
Saints and Sinners
1962
TV Series director of photography - 1 episode
Ride the High Country
1962
director of photography
Target: The Corruptors
1962
TV Series director of photography - 1 episode
Susan Slade
1961
Marines, Let's Go
1961
The Parent Trap
1961
director of photography
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
1959-1961
TV Series 9 episodes
The Westerner
1960
TV Series 3 episodes
Zorro
1960
TV Series 2 episodes
Desire in the Dust
1960
Pay or Die
1960
Black Saddle
1960
TV Series 1 episode
Zane Grey Theater
1960
TV Series 1 episode
The Bramble Bush
1960
Law of the Plainsman
1960
TV Series 1 episode
The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond
1960
Al Capone
1959
director of photography
City of Fear
1959
Murder by Contract
1958
Anna Lucasta
1958
Buchanan Rides Alone
1958
director of photography
I Married a Woman
1958
Band of Angels
1957
The Unholy Wife
1957
director of photography
The King and Four Queens
1956
A Kiss Before Dying
1956
The Killing
1956
director of photography
The Proud Ones
1956
The Killer Is Loose
1956
Seven Cities of Gold
1955
director of photography
The Magnificent Matador
1955
White Feather
1955
director of photography
The Raid
1954
Prince Valiant
1954
director of photography
New Faces
1954
photographed in color by
Inferno
1953
The Glory Brigade
1953
The Desert Rats
1953
director of photography
Night Without Sleep
1952
O. Henry's Full House
1952
segment "The Clarion Call", photography, uncredited