Harold Rosson
- Known for
- Camera
- Born
- April 6, 1895
- Died
- September 6, 1988 (aged 93)
- Birthplace
- New York City, New York, USA
Biography
From Wikipedia Harold G. "Hal" Rosson, A.S.C. (April 6, 1895 – September 6, 1988) was an American cinematographer who worked during the early and classical Hollywood cinema. He is best known for his work on the 1939 fantasy film The Wizard of Oz. Harold Rosson began his film career in 1908 as an actor at the Vitagraph Studios in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, New York City. He became the assistant to Irvin Willat at the Mark Dintenfass Studios. In 1912 he divided his time as an office boy in a stockbrokers firm and as an assistant, extra, and handyman at the Famous Players Studio in New York. His first film for Famous Players was David Harum (1915). In December 1914, Rosson moved to California and joined Metro Pictures. During World War I, he served in the United States Army. After his demobilization, he went to work on the Marion Davies film The Dark Star. He was offered a contract with the Davies Company. In 1920 he was signed by Mary Pickford, working primarily with her brother Jack Pickford. In the 1930s, Rosson signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed the photography for some of the studio's most popular films including Treasure Island (1934), The Wizard of Oz, Duel in the Sun, and Singin' in the Rain (1952). In 1936, Rosson and fellow cinematographer W. Howard Greene were awarded an Honorary Oscar for the color cinematography of the 1936 David O. Selznick production The Garden of Allah. Rosson later said it was the first time he attempted to film in color. After a very long and successful career in Hollywood, Rosson retired in 1958. He briefly came out of retirement in 1966 for the Howard Hawks film El Dorado starring John Wayne. Rosson was married twice, with both marriages ending in divorce, and had no children. While shooting the film Bombshell in 1933, actress Jean Harlow proposed to Rosson. The two had worked together previously on Red-Headed Woman, Dinner at Eight, Hold Your Man, and Red Dust and had struck up a friendship. On September 17, 1933, the two were married in Yuma, Arizona. In an interview with Leicester Wagner, Harlow recalled that she and Rosson grew closer after the death of her second husband, Paul Bern, and he encouraged her to go out and socialize. Rosson and Harlow separated in May 1934 with Harlow charging that Rosson was "rude, sullen and irritable". She was granted a divorce in March 1935. On October 11, 1936, Rosson married socialite Yvonne Crellin in Beverly Hills. They divorced in June 1945. On September 6, 1988, Rosson died, age 93, at his home in Palm Beach, Florida. He is buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Known For
Filmography
El Dorado
Movie · Director of Photography
No Time for Sergeants
Movie · Director of Photography
The Enemy Below
Movie · Director of Photography
Toward the Unknown
Movie · Director of Photography
The Bad Seed
Movie · Director of Photography
Strange Lady in Town
Movie · Director of Photography
Pete Kelly's Blues
Movie · Director of Photography
Mambo
Movie · Director of Photography
Ulysses
Movie · Director of Photography
The Actress
Movie · Director of Photography
The Story of Three Loves
Movie · Director of Photography
Dangerous When Wet
Movie · Director of Photography
I Love Melvin
Movie · Director of Photography
Singin' in the Rain
Movie · Director of Photography
Love Is Better Than Ever
Movie · Director of Photography
Lone Star
Movie · Director of Photography
The Red Badge of Courage
Movie · Director of Photography
The Asphalt Jungle
Movie · Director of Photography
Key to the City
Movie · Director of Photography
To Please a Lady
Movie · Director of Photography
Any Number Can Play
Movie · Director of Photography
The Stratton Story
Movie · Director of Photography
On the Town
Movie · Director of Photography
Homecoming
Movie · Director of Photography
Command Decision
Movie · Director of Photography
Living in a Big Way
Movie · Director of Photography
The Hucksters
Movie · Director of Photography
My Brother Talks to Horses
Movie · Director of Photography
Duel in the Sun
Movie · Director of Photography
Three Wise Fools
Movie · Director of Photography
No Leave, No Love
Movie · Director of Photography
Between Two Women
Movie · Director of Photography
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Movie · Director of Photography
An American Romance
Movie · Director of Photography
Slightly Dangerous
Movie · Director of Photography
Somewhere I'll Find You
Movie · Director of Photography
Tennessee Johnson
Movie · Director of Photography
Johnny Eager
Movie · Director of Photography
Washington Melodrama
Movie · Director of Photography
Honky Tonk
Movie · Director of Photography
Boom Town
Movie · Director of Photography
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Movie · Director of Photography
I Take This Woman
Movie · Director of Photography
The Wizard of Oz
Movie · Director of Photography
Forgotten Victory
Movie · Director of Photography
That Mothers Might Live
Movie · Director of Photography
Too Hot to Handle
Movie · Director of Photography
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Movie · Director of Photography
They Gave Him a Gun
Movie · Director of Photography
Captains Courageous
Movie · Director of Photography
Double Wedding
Movie · Director of Photography
The Devil Is a Sissy
Movie · Director of Photography
As You Like It
Movie · Director of Photography
The Man Who Could Work Miracles
Movie · Director of Photography
The Ghost Goes West
Movie · Director of Photography
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Movie · Director of Photography
This Side of Heaven
Movie · Director of Photography
The Cat and the Fiddle
Movie · Director of Photography
Treasure Island
Movie · Director of Photography
Penthouse
Movie · Director of Photography
The Barbarian
Movie · Director of Photography
Hold Your Man
Movie · Director of Photography
Turn Back the Clock
Movie · Director of Photography
Bombshell
Movie · Director of Photography
Red Dust
Movie · Director of Photography
Kongo
Movie · Director of Photography
Red-Headed Woman
Movie · Director of Photography
Downstairs
Movie · Director of Photography
Tarzan the Ape Man
Movie · Director of Photography
The Cuban Love Song
Movie · Director of Photography
The Squaw Man
Movie · Director of Photography
Men Call It Love
Movie · Director of Photography
Sporting Blood
Movie · Director of Photography
Son of India
Movie · Director of Photography
Madam Satan
Movie · Director of Photography
This Mad World
Movie · Director of Photography
Passion Flower
Movie · Director of Photography
Trent's Last Case
Movie · Director of Photography
South Sea Rose
Movie · Director of Photography
The Case of Lena Smith
Movie · Director of Photography
The Docks of New York
Movie · Director of Photography
Abie's Irish Rose
Movie · Director of Photography
The Drag Net
Movie · Director of Photography
Three Week Ends
Movie · Director of Photography
The Sawdust Paradise
Movie · Director of Photography
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Movie · Director of Photography
Rough House Rosie
Movie · Director of Photography
Evening Clothes
Movie · Director of Photography
A Gentleman of Paris
Movie · Director of Photography
Service for Ladies
Movie · Director of Photography
Getting Gertie's Garter
Movie · Director of Photography
Man Bait
Movie · Director of Photography
Almost a Lady
Movie · Director of Photography
Up in Mabel's Room
Movie · Director of Photography
Too Many Kisses
Movie · Director of Photography
A Man Must Live
Movie · Director of Photography
Manhandled
Movie · Director of Photography
A Society Scandal
Movie · Director of Photography
Dark Secrets
Movie · Director of Photography
Zaza
Movie · Director of Photography
The Glimpses of the Moon
Movie · Director of Photography
Big Brother
Movie · Director of Photography
Quicksands
Movie · Director of Photography
Through a Glass Window
Movie · Director of Photography
Buried Treasure
Movie · Director of Photography
Heliotrope
Movie · Camera Operator
The Cinema Murder
Movie · Director of Photography
The American Consul
Movie · Director of Photography
Panthea
Movie · Director of Photography
Oliver Twist
Movie · Director of Photography