Biography
Robert L. Surtees was an American cinematographer. Born in Covington, Kentucky, he began his career as an assistant cameraman to Gregg Toland and others in the late 1920s, later working in Germany before returning to Hollywood studios including MGM.
He photographed nearly 100 films over a career spanning five decades. Surtees won three Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, for King Solomon's Mines (1950), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Ben-Hur (1959), and received a total of 16 nominations. His other notable credits include Quo Vadis (1951), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), The Graduate (1967), The Last Picture Show (1971) and The Sting (1973).
His son Bruce Surtees also worked as a cinematographer.
