Biography for
Geoffrey Unsworth

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Geoffrey died during the shooting of Tess (1979). He had however already shot some of the scenes for Superman II (1980), which were shot at the same time as those of Superman (1978).

The original Superman movie is dedicated "with love and respect" to his memory.

George Lucas wanted him to handle the photography for Star Wars (1977) but he was unavailable, having already been hired by Richard Donner for Superman (1978).

According to director Richard Donner, the flying scenes in the original Superman (1978) would not have been possible had it not been for Unsworth's efforts in developing a new photography process that was much more realistic and natural looking than the blue screen technique that existed at the time.

The First Great Train Robbery is dedicated to Unsworth - the final credit reads "His friends miss him."

In 1976, he was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire).

Unsworth's last completed film was Superman (1978). Unsworth died suddenly on October 28, 1978, while working simultaneously on the sequel Superman (1978) and on Roman Polanski's Tess (1979). "Superman II" is dedicated to Unsworth at the beginning of the movie, while he won his second Oscar, posthumously, for "Tess".

Surprisingly, he was not nominated for an Academy Award for his cinematography on 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), possibly because cinematographers believed the look of the film to be primarily the work of director Stanley Kubrick (who received his sole Oscar for the film's special effects).

His wife Maggie Unsworth collaborated on the screenplay of _Half a Sixpence_ (1967)_, which he shot.

Member of the British Society of Cinematographers.

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