Quick Facts
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John Toll, A.S.C. (born June 15, 1952) is an American cinematographer. Toll's filmography spans a wide variety of genres, including epic period drama, comedy, science fiction, and contemporary drama. 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. He has collaborated with several noteworthy directors, including Francis Ford Coppola, Edward Zwick, Terrence Malick, Mel Gibson, John Madden, The Wachowskis, and Ang Lee. Outside of 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.
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. 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.
He is married to Lois Burwell who also worked on Braveheart as the make-up artist (for which she won an Oscar, too).
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Dir. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | The Beach Boys: An American Band | Malcolm Leo | Documentary film |
| 1992 | Wind | Carroll Ballard | |
| 1994 | Legends of the Fall | Edward Zwick | Won:
Nominated:
|
| 1995 | Braveheart | Mel Gibson | Won:
Nominated:
|
| 1996 | Jack | Francis Ford Coppola | |
| 1997 | The Rainmaker | ||
| 1998 | The Thin Red Line | Terrence Malick | Won:
Nominated:
|
| 1999 | Simpatico | Matthew Warchus | |
| 2000 | Almost Famous | Cameron Crowe | |
| 2001 | Captain Corelli's Mandolin | John Madden | |
| Vanilla Sky | Cameron Crowe | ||
| 2003 | The Last Samurai | Edward Zwick | Won:
Nominated:
|
| 2005 | Elizabethtown | Cameron Crowe | |
| 2006 | Seraphim Falls | David Von Ancken | |
| 2007 | Gone Baby Gone | Ben Affleck | |
| 2008 | Tropic Thunder | Ben Stiller | |
| 2009 | It's Complicated | Nancy Meyers | |
| 2011 | The Adjustment Bureau | George Nolfi | |
| 2012 | The Odd Life of Timothy Green | Peter Hedges | |
| Cloud Atlas | The Wachowskis Tom Tykwer | with Frank Griebe Nominated:
| |
| 2013 | Iron Man 3 | Shane Black | |
| 2015 | Jupiter Ascending | The Wachowskis | |
| 2016 | Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk | Ang Lee | Nominated:
|
Television
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | The Young Riders | 1 episode Nominated:
|
| 2008 | Breaking Bad | Pilot episode Nominated:
|
| 2015-17 | Sense8 | 23 episodes Also executive producer Nominated:
|
Awards & nominations
Industry Awards
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
- 1994: Legends of the Fall (won)
- 1994: Braveheart (won)
- 1998: The Thin Red Line (nomination)
American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
- 1989: The Young Riders (nomination)
- 1994: Legends of the Fall (nomination)
- 1995: Braveheart (won)
- 2007: The Thin Red Line (won)
- 2004: The Last Samurai (nomination)
- 2016: Lifetime Achievement Award (won)
Berlin International Film Festival
- 1998: The Thin Red Line (won) - Outstanding Camerawork
BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography
- 1995: Braveheart (won)
British Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography
- 1998: The Thin Red Line (nomination)
Camerimage
- 1995: Legends of the Fall − Golden Frog (nomination)
- 2002: Braveheart - Golden Frog (nomination)
- 2015: Sense8 − Jury Award (nomination)
Deutscher Filmpreis Film Award in Gold for Best Cinematography
- 2003: Cloud Atlas (won)
Hollywood Film Award
- 2003: Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography (won)
Primetime Emmy Award
- 2008: Breaking Bad (nomination)
- 2017: Sense8 (nomination)
Satellite Award for Best Cinematography
- 1998: The Thin Red Line (won)
- 2003: The Last Samurai (won)
- 2016: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (nomination)
- 2016: Nicola Tesla Award (won)
Critics awards
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography
- 1998: The Thin Red Line (won)
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography
- 1994: Legends of the Fall (won)
- 1995: Braveheart (won)
International Online Film Critics' Poll
- 2003: The Last Samurai (nomination) - INOCA Award for Best Cinematography
National Board of Review, USA
- 2003: Career Achievement Award (won)
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography
- 1998: The Thin Red Line (won)
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematographer
- 1998: The Thin Red Line (won)
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cinematography
- 1998: The Thin Red Line (nomination)
- 2003: The Last Samurai (nomination)
St. Louis Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematographer
- 2012: Cloud Atlas (nomination)