Robert Richardson Biography
Robert Bridge Richardson, ASC (born August 27, 1955) is an American cinematographer. Known for his trademark aggressively bright highlight as well as shapeshifting style, he is one of three living persons who has won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography three times, the others being Vittorio Storaro and Emmanuel Lubezki. He has frequently collaborated with Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino, and Martin Scorsese.
Richardson has won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography three times, for his work on JFK (1991), The Aviator (2004), and Hugo (2011). He was Oscar-nominated for the films Platoon (1986), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Snow Falling on Cedars (1999), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Django Unchained (2012), The Hateful Eight (2015), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).
Early life and education
Richardson was born in Hyannis, M*achusetts. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Film/Animation/Video and received his MFA from AFI Conservatory.
Career
Richardson's work began as a camera operator and 2nd unit photographer on such features as Alex Cox's Repo Man, Dorian Walker's Making the Grade and Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (all in 1984). At the same time he also served as cinematographer on TV do*entaries and docudramas such as America, America for The Disney Channel, God's Peace for the BBC and PBS' The Front Line: El Salvador. His television work and do*entary-style filmmaking led to his meeting Oliver Stone, who hired him to "shoot" Salvador (1986).
Oliver Stone's major motion picture debut was also Richardson's first film as director of photography. Salvador was also filmed in the same year as Stone's Platoon. Platoon would earn Richardson his first Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. In 1987, Richardson reteamed with Stone on Wall Street. In 1988, he filmed Eight Men Out for John Sayles. In 1989, he earned his second Best Cinematography Oscar nomination for Stone's Born on the Fourth of July.
In 1991, Richardson won the first of his Best Cinematography Academy Awards for his work on Stone's JFK; he also shot Stone's The Doors that same year. He worked with Sayles again in 1991 for City of Hope. In 1992, he worked as director of photography on Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men. He served as a 2nd unit photographer for Haskell Wexler on To the Moon, Alice, a "Showtime 30-Minute Movie" (for which he was also credited as a visual consultant). He began a long working relationship with Martin Scorsese in 1995, with Casino. Also in 1995, he was the cinematographer on Stone's Nixon. In 1997, Richardson photographed Errol Morris's do*entary Fast, Cheap and Out of Control as well as filming the majority of Stone's U Turn and serving as director of photography for Barry Levinson's Wag the Dog.
Richardson worked on the 2013 zombie film World War Z, but asked for his name to be taken off the final product. The credited cinematographer is Ben Seresin.
Personal life
Richardson has four children, Kanchan, Maya, Bibi and x. His family previously ran the Cape Cod Sea Camps situated on Cape Cod Bay prior to selling them in 2021.
Filmography
Feature films
Do*entary films
Award and nominations
Academy Awards
BAFTA Awards
American Society of Cinematographers
Miscellaneous awards
References
External links
- Robert Richardson at IMDb
- Robert Richardson at the TCM Movie Database
- American Cinematographer Magazine, interview with Robert Richardson about The Aviator
