John Toll
John Toll, ASC (born June 15, 1952) is an American cinematographer.[1][2] Toll's filmography spans a wide variety of genres, including epic period drama, comedy, science fiction, and contemporary drama.[3] He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in both 1994 and 1995 for Legends of the Fall and Braveheart respectively, and has also won numerous BAFTA, ASC, and Satellite Awards.[4] He has collaborated with several noteworthy directors, including Francis Ford Coppola, Edward Zwick, Terrence Malick, Mel Gibson, John Madden, The Wachowskis, and Ang Lee.[5] Outside film, he has shot several commercials, the pilot episode of Emmy Award-winning drama series Breaking Bad, and has served as chief cinematographer on the Netflix original series Sense8 by the Wachowskis, on which he also got executive producing credit in its second season.[6]
John Toll | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 15, 1952 |
| Occupation | Cinematographer |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Organization | American Society of Cinematographers |
| Known for | Braveheart The Thin Red Line The Last Samurai Cloud Atlas |
| Spouse(s) | Lois Burwell (November 14, 1998–present) |
| Awards | |
Life and career
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Toll began work on his first film Norma Rae, in 1978 as a camera operator. He won back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Cinematography in 1994 and 1995, for the movies Legends of the Fall and Braveheart. He is also only 1 of 4 cinematographers to win back-to-back Oscars.
He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his work on The Thin Red Line and won an Honorable Mention at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival.[7] He was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for the pilot of Breaking Bad.
He was the cinematographer in 1987 for a Ben-Gay baseball-themed national television commercial shot in Anaheim Stadium in southern California, written and co-directed by Peter Hoffman, a creative director at the New York advertising agency Ally & Gargano. It was the first commercial to use a baseball team's human mascot – in this case a giant "bird" – as a star in a commercial.
He has been a regular collaborator for acclaimed filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola, Edward Zwick, Cameron Crowe and The Wachowskis. He was presented with the ASC's Lifetime Achievement Award on February 14, 2016.
Personal life
Toll is married to Lois Burwell who also worked on Braveheart as the make-up artist (for which she won an Oscar, too).[8]
Filmography
| Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Film
Television
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | ...And Your Name Is Jonah | Richard Michaels | TV movie |
| Portrait of a Stripper | John A. Alonzo | ||
| 1980 | The Boy Who Drank Too Much | Jerrold Freedman | |
| Belle Starr | John A. Alonzo | ||
| Blinded by the Light | |||
| 1988 | Hiroshima Maiden | Joan Darling | TV special |
| 1989 | The Young Riders | Robert Lieberman | Episode: "The Kid" Nominated- ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography |
| 1990 | Goodnight Sweet Wife: A Murder in Boston | Jerrold Freedman | TV movie |
| 2008 | Breaking Bad[9] | Vince Gilligan | Episode: "Pilot" Nominated- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography |
| 2015-17 | Sense8[10] | The Wachowskis Tom Tykwer James McTeigue Dan Glass |
23 episodes; Also executive producer; Nominated- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography Nominated- Camerimage Jury Award for Best Pilot |
Other credits
Camera Operator
First Camera Assistant
| Year | Title | Director | Cinematographer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Whiffs | Ted Post | David M. Walsh | Uncredited |
| 1976 | Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood | Michael Winner | Richard H. Kline | |
| 1978 | The Last Waltz | Martin Scorsese | Michael Chapman | Concert film |
| The Cheap Detective | Robert Moore | John A. Alonzo | Uncredited | |
Additional photography
| Year | Title | Director | Cinematographer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Always | Steven Spielberg | Mikael Salomon |
| 2008 | The Burning Plain | Guillermo Arriaga | Robert Elswit |
2nd unit photography
| Year | Title | Director | Cinematographer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Tequila Sunrise | Robert Towne | Conrad L. Hall |
| 1989 | Blaze | Ron Shelton | Haskell Wexler |
Other roles
| Year | Title | Director | Cinematographer | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Chrome and Hot Leather | Production sound | |||
| 2002 | Orange County | Jake Kasdan | Greg Gardiner | Director of photography: End sequence | Uncredited |
| 2008 | Wanted | Timur Bekmambetov | Mitchell Amundsen | Director of photography: New York | |
References
- Staff, Hollywood.com (February 6, 2015). "John Toll | Biography and Filmography | 1952". Hollywood.com. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- "JOHN TOLL". www.cinematographers.nl. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- "JOHN TOLL". www.cinematographers.nl. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
- "John Toll, ASC: Honoring An Exacting Eye - The American Society of Cinematographers". ascmag.com. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
- "John Toll, ASC – Murtha Skouras Agency". Retrieved February 8, 2019.
- "Happy F*cking New Year". Sense8. December 23, 2016. Netflix.
- "Berlinale: 1999 Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
- http://www.omnilexica.com/?q=lois+burwell
- "Q&A – John Toll (Cinematographer)". AMC. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- "Sense8 / John Toll, ASC - The American Society of Cinematographers". theasc.com. Retrieved September 12, 2017.