Born May 24, 1949 in Torguay, Devon, England, the son of an actress and a builder, Roger Deakins developed an early love for painting. Educated at the Bath School of Art and Design and the National Film and Television School in Buckinghamshire, his newfound love of photography led to a job as a cameraman on documentaries. His first credit as cinematographer came with 1975’s Mothers Own. Working almost exclusively on documentaries until 1984, he took time out for the TV mini-series Wolcott and the theatrical release, Another Time, Another Place

Deakins’ late 1980s British output included Defense of the Realm, Sid and Nancy, White Mischief and Stormy Monday. His first Hollywood film was 1990’s Mountains of the Moon. He began his long collaboration with the Coen Brothers with 1991’s Barton Fink. He married his wife, script supervisor (Isabella) James Ellis in1991.

Early 1990s non-Coen Brothers’ films included Passion Fish, The Secret Garden and The Shawshank Redemption for which he won the first of twelve Oscar nominations to date. His late 1990s output included Dead Man Walking, Fargo (his second nomination, first for a Coen Brothers film), Courage Under Fire, Kundun (his third nomination), The Big Liebowski and The Hurricane.

Deakins’ impressive career continued non-stop in the first decade of the new century with such films as O Brother, Where Art Thou? (his fourth nomination), The Man Who Wasn’t There (his fifth), A Beautiful Mind, House of Sand and Fog, Jarhead , No Country for Old Men (his sixth), In the Valley of Elah, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (his seventh), Doubt, The Reader (his eighth), Revolutionary Road and A Serious Man.

Deakins was a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Cinematographers Branch) from 2004 to 2007. He has been a member of the British Society of Cinematographers since 1994 and the American Society of Cinematographers since 1996. His output continues unabated. His work in this decade has thus far included such films as The Company Men, True Grit (his ninth Oscar nomination), Skyfall (his tenth), Prisoners (his eleventh) and Unbroken (his twelfth). Will he ever win?

Roger Deakins says “I like character films. I like photographing a human face. I find that more interesting than anything else, and that’s what I will continue to do.” He remains one of our most gifted and prolific cinematographers at 65.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994), directed by Frank Darabont

Nearly twenty years after his first documentary film, Deakins received his first Oscar nomination for his tenth Hollywood film in five years, a beautifully photographed film based on Stephen King’s short story, “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”. The film was modestly successful in theaters in the summer of 1994, but became a phenomenon on home video where it has remained a best-seller for twenty years.

Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman star in the film that earned a total of seven Oscar nominations. Deakins lost the Oscar to John Toll for Legends of the Fall

FARGO (1996), directed by Joel Coen

Deakins, who was fast becoming the Coen Brothers’ favorite cinematographer, received his second Oscar nomination for his third Coen Bothers film, a very dark comedy about inept criminals and a very smart pregnant assistant sheriff played by Oscar winner Frances McDormand. Deakins’ snow country compositions are exquisite.

He lost the Oscar to John Seale for The English Pateint.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007), directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Deakins reached his career peak with three major films each in the two year period of 2007-2008, the highlight of which was No Country for Old Men, the Oscar winning Best Picture of 2007. He was nominated for that as well as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and might just as easily have been nominated for In the Valley of Elah. The following year he was nominated for The Reader but might have just as easily been nominated for Doubt and/or Revolutionary Road.

He lost those Oscars to Robert Elswit for There Will Be Blood and Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire.

SKYFALL (2012), directed by Sam Mendes

Deakins received his eleventh Oscar nomination for this, his third film for director Sam Mendes. The $2 billion box office smash hit was the most acclaimed James Bond film since the first three Sean Connery productions, Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. It was Daniel Craig’s third outing as the fabled British agent and Judi Dench’s last as his controller known simply as “M”.

Deakins’ cinematography, along with a tight script and the performances of Craig, Dench and Javier Bardem as the film’s chief villain, was a good part of the reason for the film’s success.

Deakins lost the Oscar to Claudio Miranda for Life of Pi.

UNBROKEN (2014), directed by Angelina Jolie

Critics were mixed over the merits of Jolie’s highly publicized direction and the script which left out large junks of Louie Zamperini’s fascinating life story, but were unanimous in their praise for Deakins’ superb cinematography and newcomer Jack O’Connell’s portrayal of Zamperini from the 1936 Munich Olympics to his 47 days adrift at sea to his mistreatment at two Japanese prisoner of war camps.

Deakins once again lost an Oscar on his twelfth nomination, this time to Emmanuel Lubezki for Birdman. It was Lubezski’s seventh nomination and second win, thanks to his having won the previous year for Gravity.

ROGER DEAKINS AND OSCAR

• The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – nominated Best Cinematography
• Fargo(1996) – nominated Best Cinematography
• Kundun (1997) – nominated Best Cinematography
• O Brother, Where Art Thou?(2000) – nominated Best Cinematography
• The Man Who Wasn’t There(2001) – nominated Best Cinematography
• The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) – nominated Best Cinematography
• No Country for Old Men (2007) – nominated Best Cinematography
• The Reader (2008) – nominated Best Cinematography
• True Grit (2010) – nominated Best Cinematography
• Skyfall (2012) – nominated Best Cinematography
• Prisoners (2013) – nominated Best Cinematography
• Unbroken (2014) – nominated Best Cinematography