Jack Cardiff Jack was born on 18th September 1914. His parents were “old time music-hall pros”. Much of his childhood involved moving from one theatre to the next, so he was no stranger to the wonderful world of performance and acting. Jack didn’t hesitate to get involved himself, taking to the stage at the tender age of four and thereafter began acting as a child in silent films such as Billy’s Rose. After leaving school Jack’s first job was in 1928 working on The Informer. This seems to be the experience that aroused his interest and enthusiasm for work behind the camera, regardless of the fact that his main task seemed to be to provide the director of the film with Vichy water. It was when he was a camera assistant at Denham in 1936 that Jack was chosen to be a trainee for Technicolor. He worked on many different assignments before embarking on his career as a lighting cameraman on A Matter of Life and Death in 1946, which was then succeeded by the Oscar award winning Black Narcissus. Having established himself as a name to watch, Jack had worked with people like Vidor, Houston, Hitchcock, Gardner, Bogart and Monroe before achieving praise and recognition for his work directing Sons and Lovers in 1960. It was in the 1980s that Jack decided to lend his skills to the action movie, and worked with Sylvester Stallone on Rambo: First Blood and Arnold Schwarzenegger on Conan the Barbarian. The diversity of Jack’s career has ensured that his work appeals to cinema goers of all ages. In 2001 Jack was presented with an Academy award for “his exceptional contribution to the state of motion picture arts and sciences”, fifty four years after winning his first Oscar for his cinematography on Black Narcissus. “Jack Cardiff is inarguably the greatest living cinematographer” Richard Fleischer “You ventured, you dared, you broke rules and many followed your example” Sir Richard Attenborough “his name is synonymous with Technicolor” Martin Scorsese