John A. Alonzo

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John A. Alonzo
Born	(1934-06-12)June 12, 1934 Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Died	March 13, 2001(2001-03-13) (aged 66) Brentwood, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Cinematographer, actor, director
Years active	1967–2001
Spouse	Suzanne Heltzel (1954–1966) Jan Murray (?–2001; his death)
Children	Gorgiana Alonzo, Angela Argenzia, Cristiana Murray

John A. Alonzo, ASC (June 12, 1934 – March 13, 2001) was an American cinematographer, television director, and actor^[1][2][3][4] known for his diverse body of work in both film and television.

Alonzo pioneered handheld work, lighting techniques and high-definition video development during his career. He is remembered mainly for Chinatown (1974) and Scarface (1983), the former for which he was nominated for both a BAFTA and an Academy Award. In addition, he was the recipient of a Primetime Emmy for his work on the 2000 CBS television adaptation of Fail Safe.

Alonzo was the first American cinematographer of Mexican-American descent to become a member of the Cinematographer's Union in Los Angeles, as well as the first to be inducted into the ASC.^[1]

Alonzo's career began as part of the clean-up crew at television station WFAA in Dallas. However, within a short time, he had made himself indispensable, not only building sets, hanging lights and moving cameras, but also directing cooking and children's shows. Eventually, he and actor Hank Williamson created a popular comedy duo: Alonzo became the voice and puppeteer of the irreverent "Señor Turtle," who with Williamson as his sidekick, introduced movies and cartoons. In 1956, the show was picked up by station KHJ in Hollywood, where it lasted only 26 weeks. So Alonzo worked for a time as a still photographer, and as an actor, with appearances in several well-known shows such as Twilight Zone (Season 2 – Episode 12 in "Dust" as Luis Gallegos), Combat!, 77 Sunset Strip, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

A seminal moment came during the shooting of The Magnificent Seven, in which Alonzo had a small role, when he met the cinematographer Charles Lang. This inspiring encounter, as well as the chance to briefly collaborate with James Wong Howe a few years later, finally gave Alonzo the impetus to devote his life to cinematography. By the mid-1960s, he was photographing many documentaries for National Geographic and the David L. Wolper Company, and greatly influencing the innovative "Look" of the New Hollywood that became so powerful in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

His uncomplicated and minimalistic style, combined with his first-hand knowledge of acting, made him one of the most in-demand directors of photography in Hollywood. In addition, he was not only one of the best "hand-held cameramen in Hollywood, but also a pioneer of high-def digital cinematography. In 1993/94 he shot (for NBC) the first HD movie in the history of American television, World War II: When Lions Roared.

Alonzo died in 2001 after a long illness, at home in Brentwood, California. Perhaps his best known student is two-time Oscar winner John Toll, who began his career as Alonzo's assistant on films like Black Sunday, Norma Rae, Tom Horn and Scarface.

In 2007, director Axel Schill helmed a feature documentary about Alonzo, The Man Who Shot Chinatown – The Life & Work of John A. Alonzo.

Short film

Year	Title	Director
1965	The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes	Robert Clouse
2000	The Dancing Cow	Taz Goldstein

Director

• FM (1978)

Cinematographer

Year	Title	Director
1970	Bloody Mama	Roger Corman
1971	Vanishing Point	Richard C. Sarafian
	Harold and Maude	Hal Ashby
1972	Get to Know Your Rabbit	Brian De Palma
	Sounder	Martin Ritt
	Another Nice Mess	Bob Einstein
	Lady Sings the Blues	Sidney J. Furie
	Pete 'n' Tillie	Martin Ritt
1973	The Naked Ape	Donald Driver
	Hit!	Sidney J. Furie
1974	Conrack	Martin Ritt
	Chinatown	Roman Polanski
1975	The Fortune	Mike Nichols
	Once Is Not Enough	Guy Green
	Farewell, My Lovely	Dick Richards
1976	I Will, I Will... for Now	Norman Panama
	The Bad News Bears	Michael Ritchie
1977	Black Sunday	John Frankenheimer
	Which Way Is Up?	Michael Schultz
	Beyond Reason	Telly Savalas
1978	Casey's Shadow	Martin Ritt
	The Cheap Detective	Robert Moore
1979	Norma Rae	Martin Ritt
1980	Tom Horn	William Wiard
1981	Back Roads	Martin Ritt
	Zorro, The Gay Blade	Peter Medak
1983	Blue Thunder	John Badham
	Cross Creek	Martin Ritt
	Scarface	Brian De Palma
1984	Out of Control	Allan Holzman
	Runaway	Michael Crichton
1986	Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling	Richard Pryor
	Nothing in Common	Garry Marshall
1987	Real Men	Dennis Feldman
	Overboard	Garry Marshall
1989	Physical Evidence	Michael Crichton
	Steel Magnolias	Herbert Ross
1990	Internal Affairs	Mike Figgis
	The Guardian	William Friedkin
	Navy SEALs	Lewis Teague
1992	Housesitter	Frank Oz
	Cool World	Ralph Bakshi
1993	The Meteor Man	Robert Townsend
1994	Clifford	Paul Flaherty
	Star Trek Generations	David Carson
1995	The Grass Harp	Charles Matthau
1998	Letters from a Killer	David Carson
2000	The Prime Gig	Gregory Mosher
2002	Deuces Wild*	Scott Kalvert

* Posthumous release

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	The Gun Runners	Soldier in Car	Uncredited
1960	The Crowded Sky	Young Repairman
	The Magnificent Seven	Miguel
1961	The Long Rope	Manuel Alvarez
	Susan Slade	Engineer	Uncredited
1962	Hand of Death	Carlos, lab assistant
	Terror at Black Falls	Carlos Avila
1964	Invitation to a Gunfighter	Manuel

TV movies

Year	Title	Notes
1969	The World of Peggy Lee	Nick Cominos
1971	Cannon	George McCowan
	Revenge!	Jud Taylor
1972	Visions...	Lee H. Katzin
1973	Voyage of the Yes
	Guess Who's Sleeping in My Bed?	Theodore J. Flicker
1976	Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby	Sam O'Steen
1979	Champions: A Love Story	Himself
	Portrait of a Stripper
1980	Belle Starr
	Blinded by the Light
1982	The Kid From Nowhere	Beau Bridges
1988	Roots: The Gift	Kevin Hooks
1999	Lansky	John McNaughton
2000	Fail Safe	Stephen Frears

TV series

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1988	Knightwatch	Farhad Mann	Episode "Knights of the City"
1994	World War II: When Lions Roared	Joseph Sargent	Miniseries

Acting credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	Dragnet		Episode "The Big Border"
1959	Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse		Episode "Ballad for a Bad Man"
	Border Patrol	Pete	Episode "A Bundle of Dope"
	The Thin Man	Bellboy	Episode "Cold Cargo"
1960	Perry Mason	Pedro Guitterez	Episode "The Case of the Prudent Prosecutor"
1961	The Twilight Zone	Luis Gallegos	Episode "Dust"
	Route 66	Juan Domingo	Episode "Most Vanquished, Most Victorious"
	Bronco	Tony Gomez	Episode "Guns of the Lawless"
	Cheyenne	Rico	Episode "Winchester Quarantine"
	Ripcord	Amendarez	Episode "Top Secret"
1962	Combat!	Bialos	Episodes "Cat and Mouse" and "The Prisoner"
1962-1963	The Gallant Men	Cpl. Marsh / Sgt. Morales	Episodes "And Cain Cried Out" and "The Crucible"
1963	77 Sunset Strip	Carlos Escheveria	Episode "The Man Who Wasn't There"
1963-1964	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Officer Miller / Cpl. Jack Osante	Episodes "The Long, Lost Life of Edward Smalley" and "Once Upon a Savage Night"
1964	Temple Houston	Long Maned Pony	Episode "Last Full Moon"
	Nightmare in Chicago	Officer Miller	TV movie
	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	The Intern	Episode "The Gentleman from America"
	Destry	Jose	Episode "Ride to Rio Verde"
1966-1967	The Wild Wild West	Lightnin' McCoy / Sarrkan	Episodes "The Night of the Golden Cobra" and "The Night of the Surreal McCoy"
1967	Bewitched	Guard	Episode "Art for Sam's Sake"
1969	Bracken's World	Cameraman	Episode "The Chase Sequence"

Film

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1973	Wattstax	Mel Stuart	Concert film
1984	Terror in the Aisles	Andrew J. Kuehn
1986	50 Years of Action!	Douglass M. Stewart Jr.	With Charlie Clifton and Caleb Deschanel

Short film

Year	Title	Director
1968	San Sebastian 1746 in 1968	Floyd L. Peterson
1969	The Moviemakers	Jay Anson

TV movies

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1966	The World of Animals: It's a Dog's World	Alan Landsburg Joseph L. Scanlan	With Vilis Lapenieks
1967	Do Blonds Have More Fun?	Mel Ferber	With Vilis Lapenieks, Stan Lazan and Kenneth Van Sickle
	A Nation of Immigrants	Robert Abel Aram Boyajian Mel Stuart	With Les Blank, Adam Giffard and Vilis Lapenieks
	The Big Land	David H. Vowell	With Vilis Lapenieks and Stan Lazan
1968	The World of Animals: The World of Horses	Joseph L. Scanlan	With David Blewitt and Dieter Perschke
	Sophia: A Self-Portrait	Robert Abel Mel Stuart	With Roberto Gerardi
	The World of Animals: Big Cats, Little Cats	Bud Wiser	With David Blewitt, Robert Grant, J. Barry Herron, Fred Kaplan and Vilmos Zsigmond
1972	Hollywood: The Dream Factory		With Jim Wilson

TV series

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1967–1969	National Geographic Specials	Irwin Rosten Jeff Myrow Walon Green Heinz Sielmann Himself	4 episodes
1968	The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau	Patrick Watson	Episode "Search in the Deep"

Year	Award	Category	Title	Result
1974	Academy Awards	Best Cinematography	Chinatown	Nominated
	BAFTA Awards	Best Cinematography		Nominated
1994	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie	World War II: When Lions Roared	Nominated
1999			Lansky	Won
2000		Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Light Direction	Fail Safe	Won

• John A. Alonzo at IMDb