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CORRECTION: SEE CORRECTION APPENDED; Hall obituary -- Cinematographer Conrad L. Hall was never married to actress Katherine Ross, contrary to information in his obituary in Monday's California section.
Conrad L. Hall, the cinematographer whose diverse visual vocabulary proved so enduring he won Academy Awards 30 years apart, has died, it was announced Sunday. He was 76.
Hall died Saturday in a Santa Monica hospital of complications from bladder cancer, his wife Susan said.
One of Hollywood's most sought-after directors of photography, Hall completed his last film only last year -- the Tom Hanks gangster film "Road to Perdition," directed by Sam Mendes. Hall won Oscars for his cinematography on 1999's "American Beauty," also directed by Mendes, and on 1969's "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," directed by George Roy Hill.
He received the highest honor, the lifetime achievement award, from the American Society of Cinematographers in 1994, and was to be honored later this month with a similar award from the National Board of Review. In May, UCLA assembled a retrospective of Hall's films.
Unlike some popular cinematographers whose elaborate lighting designs and camera moves are instantly identifiable, Hall showcased a wide range of timeless cinematic looks. From the sepia glow of "Butch Cassidy," to the harsh black-and-white "In Cold Blood," Hall's work defied easy categorization, except that it was all outstanding.
He could bring something as moribund as chess to life, as he did with "Searching For Bobby Fischer." Among his most memorable images is a hand-held video sequence of a plastic bag caught in a circle of wind, from "American Beauty." That film also won the Academy Award for best picture.
For all his singular artistry, however, Hall did not intimidate newcomers: First-time directors like Mendes and Steve Zaillian ("Bobby Fischer") hired him as their director of photography. He also was popular with some of the most accomplished actors. Paul Newman, for example, appeared in four Hall films, starting with 1966's "Harper" and ending with "Road to Perdition."
"With 'Road to Perdition' you could virtually take every frame of his work and blow it up and hang it...