Quick Facts
Biography
Joseph LaShelle, A.S.C. (July 9, 1900 - August 20, 1989) was a film cinematographer from the U.S.
He won an Academy Award for Laura (1944), and was nominated on eight additional occasions.
Career
LaShelle's first job in the film industry was as an assistant in the Paramount West Coast Studio lab in 1920. Instead of going to college as planned, he remained in the film industry after a promotion to supervisor of the printing department.
In 1925, Charles G. Clarke convinced him he should be a cameraman. He went to work with Clarke and after three months he was promoted to second cameraman, and he worked for various cinematographers at the Hollywood Metropolitan Studios. LaShalle was transferred from Metropolitan to Pathé where he began a 14-year association with Arthur C. Miller. He later went with Miller to Fox Films.
After working as a camera operator on Fox productions such as How Green Was My Valley (1941) and The Song of Bernadette (1943), he was promoted and became a cinematographer in 1943. He was a member of the A.S.C.
Some of his well-known works are the film noirs: Laura (1944), for which he won an Oscar; Fallen Angel (1945); and Road House (1948). He is remembered for his work with Otto Preminger and Billy Wilder.
Television
LaShelle also worked in television, such as the first episode of The Twilight Zone in 1959 ("Where Is Everybody?").
Accolades
Wins
- Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, for Laura; 1945.
Nominations
- Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, for Come to the Stable; 1949.
- Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, for My Cousin Rachel, 1952.
- Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, for Marty; 1956.
- Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, for Career;1960.
- Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, for The Apartment; 1961.
- Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Color for: Irma la Douce; 1964.
- Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Color, for How the West Was Won; 1964. Shared with: William H. Daniels, Milton R. Krasner, and Charles Lang.
- Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; for The Fortune Cookie; 1967.
