Allen Daviau, A.S.C. (June 14, 1942 – April 15, 2020) was an American cinematographer.

He was known for his collaborations with Steven Spielberg as a cinematography for his work on, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982), The Color Purple (1985), and Empire of the Sun (1987). He was nominated and won numerous awards, including 5 Academy Award nominations and 2 British Academy Film Award nominations, with one win. In addition to his work in film, Daviau served as Cinematographer-in-Residence at the University of California, Los Angeles. He died on April 15, 2020, at the age of 77 as a result of complications from COVID-19 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital.

Career

Daviau was born on June 14, 1942, in New Orleans and raised in Los Angeles.

He was introduced to Steven Spielberg in the late 1960s. "Steven had seen some of my 16mm work,” he said in a 2007 interview. "He and I shared a great love of movies."[2] indeed his career was jumpstarted when he was introduced to the aspiring filmmaker, in 1967 and then the two went on to work together on two early short films. They continued their professional working career by collaborating on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982); "Kick the Can," a segment from Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), The Color Purple (1985), and an episode of the NBC anthology series Amazing Stories titled, "Ghost Train" (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987).

Daviau's work also includes John Schlesinger's The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), the Spielberg-produced Harry and the Hendersons (1987), Albert Brooks' Defending Your Life (1991), Barry Levinson's Avalon (1990) and Bugsy (1991), Peter Weir's Fearless (1993), Frank Marshall's Congo (1995), Rand Ravich's The Astronaut's Wife (1999) and Stephen Sommers' Van Helsing (2004), his final feature.

He received lifetime achievement awards from the Art Directors Guild in 1997 and the American Society of Cinematographers in 2007.

Throughout his career, Daviau shot thousands of commercials, documentaries, industrials and educational films, and created psychedelic special-effects lighting for Roger Corman's The Trip (1967), before he gained entry into the International Photographers Guild.

While doing a lawnmower commercial in Arizona, Daviau learned that Spielberg was looking for a cinematographer for E.T. and sent the director a tape of a 1980 CBS telefilm that he shot, The Boy Who Drank Too Much, starring Scott Baio. "It had a lot of mood, and it's about kids, so I knew Steven would watch it!" Daviau said. Spielberg stated, he contacted Daviau for his next feature saying, "I did something I rarely do. I didn't think twice; I picked up the phone and asked Allen if he would photograph my next feature."

Death

Daviau died on April 15, 2020, at the age of 77 as a result of complications from COVID-19 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital.

When news reached Spielberg recently that Daviau was ill, the famed filmmaker sent a letter to him that recounted their years of friendship and collaboration together. It was read to Daviau several times at his bedside just before he died, the MPTF said. Said Spielberg: "Allen and I started our careers side by side … [he] was a wonderful artist, but his warmth and humanity were as powerful as his lens. He was a singular talent and a beautiful human being."