John Bailey (cinematographer)

John Ira Bailey ASC (August 10, 1942 – November 10, 2023)^[1] was an American cinematographer and film director known for his collaborations with directors Paul Schrader, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Apted, and Ken Kwapis. In August 2017, Bailey was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.^[2] He was succeeded by casting director David Rubin in August 2019.^[3]

John Bailey
Publicity Photo of John Bailey
President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
In office August 8, 2017 – August 7, 2019
Preceded by	Cheryl Boone Isaacs
Succeeded by	David Rubin
Personal details
Born	John Ira Bailey (1942-08-10)August 10, 1942 Moberly, Missouri, U.S.
Died	November 10, 2023(2023-11-10) (aged 81) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Spouse	Carol Littleton ​ (m. 1972)​
Alma mater	Loyola University (Loyola Marymount University) USC School of Cinematic Arts
Occupation	Cinematographer, film director

Early life

John Ira Bailey was born August 10, 1942, in Moberly, Missouri, and raised in Norwalk, California.^[4][5] He attended Pius X High School in Downey, California,^[5] and briefly studied chemistry at Santa Clara University before transferring to Loyola University, Los Angeles,^[4] where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1964.^[6] He earned a graduate degree from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) in 1968.^[7]

Career

Bailey spent 11 years apprenticing as a crew member with cinematographers such as Vilmos Zsigmond and Néstor Almendros, working on Two-Lane Blacktop, The Late Show, 3 Women, Winter Kills, and Days of Heaven. He earned his first credit as director of photography for Boulevard Nights, followed by Ordinary People and American Gigolo.^{[citation needed]}

In 1985, Bailey shared the Cannes Film Festival Best Artistic Contribution Award with Eiko Ishioka and Philip Glass for Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography for Tough Guys Don't Dance and the Camerimage Golden Frog Award for Best Cinematography for Forever Mine. He was a member of the American Society of Cinematographers and member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1987.^[8] He worked on numerous comedy films such as Groundhog Day, As Good as It Gets, and The Producers. He was a veteran documentary cameraman.

Bailey's credits as a director include The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, China Moon, Mariette in Ecstasy, and Via Dolorosa.

Personal life and death

Bailey was married to film editor Carol Littleton from 1972. They resided in Los Angeles.^[4] He died in his sleep on November 10, 2023, at the age of 81.^[9][10]

Filmography

Cinematographer

Film

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1972	Premonition	Alan Rudolph
1974	End of August	Gary Young
1975	Legacy	Karen Arthur
1978	The Mafu Cage
1979	Boulevard Nights	Michael Pressman
1980	American Gigolo	Paul Schrader
	Ordinary People	Robert Redford
1981	Honky Tonk Freeway	John Schlesinger
	Continental Divide	Michael Apted
1982	Cat People	Paul Schrader
	That Championship Season	Jason Miller
1983	Without a Trace	Stanley R. Jaffe
	The Big Chill	Lawrence Kasdan
1984	Racing with the Moon	Richard Benjamin
	The Pope of Greenwich Village	Stuart Rosenberg
1985	Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters	Paul Schrader
	Silverado	Lawrence Kasdan
1986	Crossroads	Walter Hill
	Brighton Beach Memoirs	Gene Saks
1987	Light of Day	Paul Schrader
	Tough Guys Don't Dance	Norman Mailer	Uncredited
1988	Vibes	Ken Kwapis
	The Accidental Tourist	Lawrence Kasdan
1990	My Blue Heaven	Herbert Ross
1991	The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe	Himself
1993	Groundhog Day	Harold Ramis
	In the Line of Fire	Wolfgang Petersen
1994	Nobody's Fool	Robert Benton
1996	Extreme Measures	Michael Apted
1997	As Good as It Gets	James L. Brooks
1998	Living Out Loud	Richard LaGravenese
1999	The Out-of-Towners	Sam Weisman
	Forever Mine	Paul Schrader
	For Love of the Game	Sam Raimi
2000	Via Dolorosa	Himself
2001	Antitrust	Peter Howitt
	The Anniversary Party	Jennifer Jason Leigh Alan Cumming
2002	Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood	Callie Khouri
2003	How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days	Donald Petrie
2004	Incident at Loch Ness	Zak Penn	Also actor (As "Crew of Herzog in Wonderland")
2005	The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants	Ken Kwapis
	Must Love Dogs	Gary David Goldberg
	The Producers	Susan Stroman	With Charles Minsky
2006	The Architect	Matthew Tauber
2007	The Death and Life of Bobby Z	John Herzfeld	Uncredited
	License to Wed	Ken Kwapis
2008	Mad Money	Callie Khouri
	Over Her Dead Body	Jeff Lowell
2009	The Greatest	Shana Feste
	Brief Interviews with Hideous Men	John Krasinski
	He's Just Not That Into You	Ken Kwapis
2010	When in Rome	Mark Steven Johnson
	Ramona and Beezus	Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum
	Country Strong	Shana Feste
2012	Big Miracle	Ken Kwapis
2013	The Way, Way Back	Nat Faxon Jim Rash
	A.C.O.D.	Stu Zicherman
	Snake and Mongoose	Wayne Holloway
2014	The Angriest Man in Brooklyn	Phil Alden Robinson
	The Forger	Philip Martin
2015	A Walk in the Woods	Ken Kwapis
2016	Burn Your Maps	Jordan Roberts
2017	How to Be a Latin Lover	Ken Marino
2018	An Actor Prepares	Steve Clark
2019	Phil	Greg Kinnear
2022	10 Tricks	Richard Pagano

Short film

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1972	Open Window	Richard Patterson
2002	The Fig Rig	Shari Roman	Documentary short
2003	ADM: DOP (Anthony Dod Mantle - Director of Photography)
2009	Looking at Animals	Marc Turtletaub

TV movies

Year	Title	Director
1978	Battered	Peter Werner
1980	City in Fear	Jud Taylor
1989	Time Flies When You're Alive	Roger Spottiswoode
1996	Passion	James Lapine
1998	Always Outnumbered	Michael Apted

Documentary film

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1987	Swimming to Cambodia	Jonathan Demme	Concert film
1990	Hollywood Mavericks	Florence Dauman Dale Ann Stieber	With Steve Baum, Frederick Elmes, Marc Gérard, Mead Hunt, Todd McClelland, Peter S. Rosen and Steven Wacks
1991	A Brief History of Time	Errol Morris	With Stefan Czapsky
2000	Michael Jordan to the Max	Don Kempf James D. Stern	With Joe D'Alessandro, David Kessler, James Neihouse and Rodney Taylor
2001	NSync: Bigger Than Live	Himself	With Matthew Williams
2002	The Kid Stays in the Picture	Nanette Burstein Brett Morgen
2003	Digital Babylon	Shari Roman
2004	The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing	Wendy Apple

Director

• The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (1991)
• China Moon (1994)
• Via Dolorosa (2000) (stage play)
• NSync: Bigger Than Live (2001) (Documentary film)
• Mariette in Ecstasy (2019)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1985	Cannes Film Festival	Best Artistic Contribution	Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters	Won	[11]
1988	Independent Spirit Award	Best Cinematography	Tough Guys Don't Dance	Nominated
1994	CableACE Award	Television Special	The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe	Won
		Directing in a Comedy Special		Nominated
1999	Camerimage	Golden Frog Award	Forever Mine	Nominated
2001	Society of Operating Cameramen	President's Award	—	Won
2015	American Society of Cinematographers	Lifetime Achievement Award	—	Won
2018	Society of Operating Cameramen	Governor's Award	—	Won
2019	Camerimage	Lifetime Achievement Award	—	Won	[4]