George Albert Smith

Personal Info

Known For Director

Gender Male

Birthday 1864-01-04

Deathday 1959-05-17 (95 years old)

Place of Birth Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK

Also Known As G.A. Smith, GA Smith

George Albert Smith

Biography

Along with his better-known French counterpart Georges Méliès, George Albert Smith, usually credited as G.A. Smith, was one of the first filmmakers to explore fictional and fantastic themes, often using surprisingly sophisticated special effects. His background was ideal – an established portrait photographer, he also had a long-standing interest in show business, running a tourist attraction in his native Brighton featuring a fortune teller. His films were among the first to feature such innovations as superimposition (Smith patented a double-exposure system in 1897), close-ups and scene transitions involving wipes and focus pulls. He also patented Kinemacolor – the world's first commercial cinema color system--in 1906, which was extremely successful for a time, despite the special equipment required to project it

Known For

Director

1910
Fording the River

as Director

1910
Choice Bouquets

as Director

1909
1908
1906
Two Clowns

as Director

1903
Mary Jane's Mishap

as Director

1903
The Sick Kitten

as Director

1903
1903
Dorothy's Dream

as Director

1902
1901
1901
Visit to Pompeii

as Director

1900
1900
Let Me Dream Again

as Director

1900
Spiders on a Web

as Director

1900
1900
1900
1900
Two Old Sports

as Director

1900
The Dull Razor

as Director

1899
1899
1898
1898
Santa Claus

as Director

1898
Cinderella

as Director

1898
1898
1898
Ally Sloper

as Director

1897
The X-Ray Fiend

as Director

1897
The Sign Writer

as Director

1897
Comic Face

as Director

1897
1897
The Haunted Castle

as Director

1897
Making Sausages

as Director

1897
Weary Willie

as Director

1897
1897
1897
Comic Shaving

as Director

Producer

1908
1900
1899
1897
The X-Ray Fiend

as Producer

1897
The Haunted Castle

as Producer

1897

Camera

1902
The Coronation of Edward VII

as Camera Operator

1900
As Seen Through a Telescope

as Director of Photography

1899
The Kiss in the Tunnel

as Director of Photography

Art

1897
The X-Ray Fiend

as Production Design

Writer

1897
The X-Ray Fiend

as Writer

Actor

1899