Biography
John Ira Bailey (10 August 1942 – 10 November 2023) was an American cinematographer and occasional film director. Born in Moberly, Missouri, and raised in Norwalk, California, he studied at Loyola Marymount University and the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. He began his career as an assistant cameraman and worked as a camera operator on films including Days of Heaven (1978) before becoming a director of photography.
Bailey shot numerous features, including Ordinary People (1980), American Gigolo (1980), Groundhog Day (1993), As Good as It Gets (1997), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003) and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005). He collaborated frequently with directors Paul Schrader, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Apted and Ken Kwapis. He also directed several films, among them The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (1991) and China Moon (1994).
Bailey served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 2017 to 2019, the first cinematographer in that role for many years. He was a member of the American Society of Cinematographers and received its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
