{{short description|American cinematographer (1942–2020)}} {{More citations needed|date=May 2020}} {{Infobox person | image = Deyellspielbergdaviau (cropped).jpg | birth_name = John Allen Daviau | birth_date = {{birth date|1942|06|14}} | birth_place = [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2020|04|15|1942|06|14}} | death_place = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S. | occupation = [[Cinematographer]] | years_active = 1967–2010 | partner = | awards = | relatives = {{Plainlist | * [[Anne Rice]] (cousin) * [[Alice Borchardt]] (cousin) }} }} '''John Allen Daviau''' (June 14, 1942 – April 15, 2020)<ref name="Telegraph"/> was an American [[cinematographer]] known for his collaborations with [[Steven Spielberg]] on ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'' (1982), ''[[The Color Purple (1985 film)|The Color Purple]]'' (1985), and ''[[Empire of the Sun (film)|Empire of the Sun]]'' (1987). He received five [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations and two [[British Academy Film Award]] nominations, with one win. In addition to his work in film, Daviau served as Cinematographer-in-Residence at [[UCLA]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/ucla-taps-bailey-kodak-cinematographer-residence-16261/|title=UCLA Taps Bailey as Kodak Cinematographer-in-Residence|author=Wrap Staff|work=[[TheWrap]]|date=April 13, 2010|access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref>
== Career == Daviau was born on June 14, 1942, in New Orleans, and raised in Los Angeles. He graduated from [[Loyola High School (Los Angeles)|Loyola High School]] in 1960.<ref name="Telegraph"/>
He was introduced to [[Steven Spielberg]] in the late 1960s<ref name="auto"/> and the two went on to work together on two early short films. They continued their professional working career by collaborating on ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'' (1982); "Kick the Can," a segment from ''[[Twilight Zone: The Movie]]'' (1983), ''[[The Color Purple (1985 film)|The Color Purple]]'' (1985), an episode of the [[NBC]] anthology series ''[[Amazing Stories (1985 TV series)|Amazing Stories]]'' titled "Ghost Train" (1985), and ''[[Empire of the Sun (film)|Empire of the Sun]]'' (1987).<ref name="auto"/>
Daviau's work also includes [[John Schlesinger]]'s ''[[The Falcon and the Snowman]]'' (1985), the Spielberg-produced ''[[Harry and the Hendersons]]'' (1987), [[Albert Brooks]]' ''[[Defending Your Life]]'' (1991), [[Barry Levinson]]'s ''[[Avalon (1990 film)|Avalon]]'' (1990) and ''[[Bugsy]]'' (1991), [[Peter Weir]]'s ''[[Fearless (1993 film)|Fearless]]'' (1993), [[Frank Marshall (filmmaker)|Frank Marshall]]'s ''[[Congo (film)|Congo]]'' (1995), [[Rand Ravich]]'s ''[[The Astronaut's Wife]]'' (1999) and [[Stephen Sommers]]' ''[[Van Helsing (film)|Van Helsing]]'' (2004), his final feature.
He received lifetime achievement awards from the [[Art Directors Guild]] in 1997 and the [[American Society of Cinematographers]] in 2007.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/news/allen-daviau-dead-dies-e-t-empire-of-the-sun-1234582518/|title= 'E.T.' Cinematographer Allen Daviau Dies of COVID-19 at 77|last=McNary|first=Dave|author-link=Dave McNary|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=April 16, 2020|access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref>
Daviau shot thousands of commercials, documentaries, industrials and educational films, and created psychedelic special-effects lighting for [[Roger Corman]]'s ''[[The Trip (1967 film)|The Trip]]'' (1967) before he gained entry into the International Photographers Guild.<ref name="auto1"/>
===''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''=== While doing a lawnmower commercial in Arizona, Daviau learned that Spielberg was looking for a cinematographer for ''E.T.'' and sent the director a tape of ''The Boy Who Drank Too Much'', a 1980 telefilm that he shot. "It had a lot of mood, and it's about kids, so I knew Steven would watch it!" Daviau said. Spielberg stated that he contacted Daviau for his next feature, saying, "I did something I rarely do. I didn't think twice; I picked up the phone and asked Allen if he would photograph my next feature."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theasc.com/ac_magazine/January2007/AllenDaviauASC/page1.html|title=A Movie Buff's Moment|last=Williams|first=David E.|work=[[American Cinematographer]]|publisher=[[American Society of Cinematographers]]|date=January 2007|access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref>
== Personal life and death == Following a surgical procedure in 2012, Daviau began using a wheelchair.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/05/15/allen-daviau-cinematographer-noted-work-stephen-spielberg/|title=Allen Daviau, cinematographer noted for his work with Stephen Spielberg – obituary|author=Telegraph Obituaries|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=May 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515232830/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/05/15/allen-daviau-cinematographer-noted-work-stephen-spielberg/|url-access=subscription|archive-date=May 15, 2020|access-date=January 5, 2023}}</ref> He died on April 15, 2020, at the age of 77, as a result of complications from [[COVID-19]] at the [[Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital]].<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/allen-daviau-dead-spielberg-cinematographer-five-time-oscar-nominee-was-77-1290572|title=Allen Daviau, Spielberg Cinematographer and Five-Time Oscar Nominee, Dies of Coronavirus Complications at 77|last=Barnes|first=Mike|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=April 16, 2020|access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref>
==Filmography== '''Short film''' {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director ! Notes |- | 1968 | ''[[Amblin']]'' | [[Steven Spielberg]] | |- | 1975 | ''Names of Sin'' | [[Rolf Forsberg]] | |- |rowspan=2|1983 | ''[[Kick the Can]]'' | Steven Spielberg |rowspan=2|Segments of ''[[Twilight Zone: The Movie]]'' |- | ''[[It's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone)|It's a Good Life]]'' | [[Joe Dante]] |- | 2000 | ''The Translator'' | Leslie Anne Smith | |- | 2001 | ''Sweet'' | Elyse Couvillion | |- | 2002 | ''The Routine'' | [[Bob Giraldi]] | |- |rowspan=2|2004 | ''ASC-DCI StEM'' | | Also writer |- | ''How to Be a Hollywood Player in Less Than Ten Minutes'' | Joe Hudson | |- | 2010 | ''The Caretaker 3D'' | Sean Isroelit | With [[Svetlana Cvetko]] |}
'''Documentary film''' {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director ! Notes |- | 1971 | ''[[Say Goodbye (film)|Say Goodbye]]'' | David H. Vowell | |- | 1973 | ''New Gladiators'' | Bob Hammer | With [[John Hora]] |- | 2004 | ''Olive or Twist 2004'' | Peter Moody | With Tchell De Paepe, Joachim Hanwright and Michael Knight |}
'''Feature film''' {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director |- | 1973 | ''[[The Brothers O'Toole]]'' | [[Richard Erdman]] |- | 1974 | ''Mother Tiger Mother Tiger'' | [[Rolf Forsberg]] |- |rowspan=2|1982 | ''[[Harry Tracy, Desperado]]'' | [[William Graham (director)|William A. Graham]] |- | ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'' | [[Steven Spielberg]] |- |rowspan=2|1985 | ''[[The Falcon and the Snowman]]'' | [[John Schlesinger]] |- | ''[[The Color Purple (1985 film)|The Color Purple]]'' |rowspan=2|Steven Spielberg |- |rowspan=2|1987 | ''[[Empire of the Sun (film)|Empire of the Sun]]'' |- | ''[[Harry and the Hendersons]]'' | [[William Dear]] |- | 1990 | ''[[Avalon (1990 film)|Avalon]]'' | [[Barry Levinson]] |- |rowspan=2|1991 | ''[[Defending Your Life]]'' | [[Albert Brooks]] |- | ''[[Bugsy]]'' | Barry Levinson |- | 1993 | ''[[Fearless (1993 film)|Fearless]]'' | [[Peter Weir]] |- | 1995 | ''[[Congo (film)|Congo]]'' | [[Frank Marshall (producer)|Frank Marshall]] |- | 1999 | ''[[The Astronaut's Wife]]'' | [[Rand Ravich]] |- | 2004 | ''[[Van Helsing (film)|Van Helsing]]'' | [[Stephen Sommers]] |}
'''TV movies''' {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director |- | 1974 | ''[[Mooch Goes to Hollywood]]'' | [[Richard Erdman]] |- | 1979 | ''The Streets of L.A.'' |rowspan=2| Jerrold Freedman |- |rowspan=2|1980 | ''[[The Boy Who Drank Too Much]]'' |- | ''Rage!'' | [[William Graham (director)|William Graham]] |- | 1983 | ''Legs'' | Jerold Freedman |}
'''TV series''' {|class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director ! Episode |- | 1982 | ''[[McDonaldland]]'' | Lee Chapman | "Skating" |- | 1985 | ''[[Amazing Stories (1985 TV series)|Amazing Stories]]'' | [[Steven Spielberg]] | "Ghost Train" |- | 1996 | ''International Cinematographer's Guild Heritage Series'' | Jay Nefcy | "Vittorio Storaro" |- |}
==Awards and nominations== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |- ! Organization ! Year ! Category ! Title ! Result |- ! rowspan="5" scope="row" | [[Academy Awards]] | [[55th Academy Awards|1982]] | rowspan=5|[[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] | ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'' | {{nom}} |- | [[58th Academy Awards|1985]] | ''[[The Color Purple (1985 film)|The Color Purple]]'' | {{nom}} |- | [[60th Academy Awards|1987]] | ''[[Empire of the Sun (film)|Empire of the Sun]]'' | {{nom}} |- | [[63rd Academy Awards|1990]] | ''[[Avalon (1990 film)|Avalon]]'' | {{nom}} |- | [[64th Academy Awards|1991]] | ''[[Bugsy (film)|Bugsy]]'' | {{nom}} |- ! rowspan="3" scope="row" | [[American Society of Cinematographers]] | 1987 | rowspan=3|[[American Society of Cinematographers Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases|Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography]] | ''Empire of the Sun'' | {{won}} |- | 1990 | ''Avalon'' | {{nom}} |- | 1991 | ''Bugsy'' | {{won}} |- ! rowspan="2" scope="row" | [[BAFTA Film Awards]] | 1982 | rowspan=2|[[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] | ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' | {{nom}} |- | 1987 | ''Empire of the Sun'' | {{won}} |- ! scope="row" | [[Boston Society of Film Critics]] | 1982 | [[Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] | ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' | {{won}} |- ! scope="row" | [[Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association]] |rowspan=2|1991 | [[Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] |rowspan=2|''Bugsy'' | {{nom}} |- ! scope="row" | [[National Society of Film Critics]] | [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] | {{nom}} |- ! scope="row" | [[New York Film Critics Circle]] | 1987 | [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] | ''Empire of the Sun'' | {{nom}} |- |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0005679|Allen Daviau}}
{{Navboxes | title = Awards for Allen Daviau | list = {{American Society of Cinematographers Theatrical Release Award}} {{BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography 1985–2009}} {{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography}} }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daviau, Allen}} [[Category:1942 births]] [[Category:2020 deaths]] [[Category:American cinematographers]] [[Category:American wheelchair users]] [[Category:Artists from New Orleans]] [[Category:ArtCenter College of Design people]] [[Category:Best Cinematography BAFTA Award winners]] [[Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California]] [[Category:Loyola High School (Los Angeles) alumni]]