Gabriel Figueroa

Personal Info

Known For Camera

Gender Male

Birthday 1907-04-24

Deathday 1997-04-27 (90 years old)

Place of Birth Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Also Known As Gabriel Figueroa Mateos, G. Figueroa, Gabriel Figuroa, Gabriel Figueroa M.

Gabriel Figueroa

Biography

Gabriel Figueroa Mateos (April 24, 1907 – April 27, 1997) was a Mexican cinematographer who worked both in Mexican cinema and Hollywood. His mother died after giving birth to him. His father, unable to cope with the loss of his wife, left Gabriel and his brother Roberto to be cared for by their aunts. He studied painting at the Academia de San Carlos, and at the age of 16 he became interested in photography thanks to José Guadalupe Velasco. He later befriended other photographers, such as Gilberto Martínez Solares and Raúl Martínez Solares, and these three would then move on to cinematography. Figueroa made his entry in the movie industry in 1932 as a photographer of stills for the film Revolución of Miguel Contreras Torres. He was later one of the 20 cinematographers hired for the Howard Hawks film Viva Villa!. After a few jobs he obtained a scholarship to study in the United States where the established director of photography Gregg Toland taught Figueroa. Back in Mexico, his first film was Fernando de Fuentes's Allá en el Rancho Grande (1936) which would become one of the most popular films in Mexico and Latin America, and gave him his first award at the Venice Film Festival. He filmed 235 movies over 50 years, including Los Olvidados by Luis Buñuel, The Night of the Iguana by John Huston, The Fugitive by John Ford, and Río Escondido by Emilio Fernández. One of his main collaborators was Fernández, with whom he shot twenty films, some of which won prizes at the Venice Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, and the Berlin Film Festival. After collaborating with Fernández and Buñuel on their films with such actors as Dolores del Río, Pedro Armendáriz, María Félix, Jorge Negrete, Columba Domínguez, and Silvia Pinal, Figueroa has come to be regarded one of the most influential cinematographers active in México.

Known For

Camera

1984
The Heart of the Night

as Director of Photography

1984
Under the Volcano

as Director of Photography

1981
D.F./Distrito Federal

as Director of Photography

1980
At a Lame Pace

as Director of Photography

1980
The Border

as Director of Photography

1978
Divinas palabras

as Director of Photography

1978
The Children of Sanchez

as Director of Photography

1977
Balún Canán

as Director of Photography

1976
Coronation

as Director of Photography

1974
Los perros de Dios

as Director of Photography

1974
The Master of Ballantrae

as Director of Photography

1973
El amor tiene cara de mujer

as Director of Photography

1971
El cielo y tú

as Director of Photography

1971
El profe

as Director of Photography

1971
La Generala

as Director of Photography

1970
Kelly's Heroes

as Director of Photography

1970
Two Mules for Sister Sara

as Director of Photography

1970
Narda o el verano

as Director of Photography

1970
The Phantom Gunslinger

as Director of Photography

1969
The Big Cube

as Director of Photography

1969
The Door and The Butcher's Wife

as Director of Photography

1968
The Chinese Room

as Director of Photography

1968
Mariana

as Director of Photography

1968
Pax?

as Director of Photography

1968
The Scapular

as Director of Photography

1967
Savage Sunday

as Director of Photography

1967
El asesino se embarca

as Director of Photography

1967
Your Excellency

as Director of Photography

1967
Pedro Paramo

as Director of Photography

1966
Forbidden Cargo

as Director of Photography

1966
¡Viva Benito Canales!

as Director of Photography

1965
Love Love Love

as Director of Photography

1965
Simon of the Desert

as Director of Photography

1965
Escuela para solteras

as Director of Photography

1964
The Night of the Iguana

as Director of Photography

1964
En la mitad del mundo

as Director of Photography

1963
La Bandida

as Director of Photography

1963
The Paper Man

as Director of Photography

1963
Entrega Inmediata

as Director of Photography

1963
Autumn Days

as Director of Photography

1962
The Exterminating Angel

as Director of Photography

1962
El tejedor de milagros

as Director of Photography

1961
The Important Man

as Director of Photography

1961
The White Rose

as Director of Photography

1961
Juana Gallo

as Director of Photography

1960
Macario

as Director of Photography

1960
The Young One

as Director of Photography

1960
Impaciencia del corazón

as Director of Photography

1959
La Cucaracha

as Director of Photography

1959
Beyond All Limits

as Director of Photography

1959
Nazarin

as Director of Photography

1959
Fever Mounts at El Pao

as Director of Photography

1959
Sonatas

as Camera Operator

1959
Sonatas

as Director of Photography

1958
Una cita de amor

as Director of Photography

1958
30-30 Carbine

as Director of Photography

1958
Sueños de oro

as Director of Photography

1957
El bolero de Raquel

as Director of Photography

1956
Basket of Mexican Tales

as Director of Photography

1956
La doncella de piedra

as Director of Photography

1955
The Monster of the Shadow

as Director of Photography

1955
Estafa de amor

as Director of Photography

1954
Take Me in Your Arms

as Director of Photography

1954
Camelia

as Director of Photography

1954
Rebellion of the Hanged

as Director of Photography

1953
Él

as Director of Photography

1953
El señor fotógrafo

as Director of Photography

1952
Cuando levanta la niebla

as Director of Photography

1952
Siempre tuya

as Director of Photography

1952
El enamorado

as Director of Photography

1952
Soledad's Shawl

as Director of Photography

1952
Ahí viene Martín Corona

as Director of Photography

1951
Victims of Sin

as Director of Photography

1951
La bienamada

as Director of Photography

1951
Las Islas Marias

as Director of Photography

1950
The Young and the Damned

as Director of Photography

1950
The Torch

as Director of Photography

1950
Duelo en las montañas

as Director of Photography

1950
One Day of Life

as Director of Photography

1949
La malquerida

as Director of Photography

1949
Pueblerina

as Director of Photography

1949
Salon Mexico

as Director of Photography

1949
Midnight

as Director of Photography

1949
El embajador

as Director of Photography

1948
Río escondido

as Director of Photography

1948
Maclovia

as Director of Photography

1947
The Fugitive

as Director of Photography

1947
The Pearl

as Director of Photography

1946
Enamorada

as Director of Photography

1946
The Last Adventure

as Director of Photography

1946
Cantaclaro

as Director of Photography

1945
Amor Prohibido

as Director of Photography

1945
One Day with the Devil

as Director of Photography

1945
Bugambilia

as Director of Photography

1944
Maria Candelaria

as Director of Photography

1944
El corsario negro

as Director of Photography

1943
Another Dawn

as Director of Photography

1943
Wild Flower

as Director of Photography

1943
El circo

as Director of Photography

1942
The Three Musketeers

as Director of Photography

1942
The Virgin who Forged a Fatherland

as Director of Photography

1942
Mi viuda alegre

as Director of Photography

1941
La gallina clueca

as Director of Photography

1941
El rápido de las 9.15

as Director of Photography

1941
Ni sangre ni arena

as Director of Photography

1941
The Unknown Policeman

as Director of Photography

1941
La casa del rencor

as Director of Photography

1941
Creo en Dios

as Director of Photography

1941
Those Were The Days, Senor Don Simon!

as Director of Photography

1940
The Underdogs

as Director of Photography

1940
Con su amable permiso

as Director of Photography

1940
¡Que viene mi marido!

as Director of Photography

1940
The Miracle Song

as Director of Photography

1940
Allá en el Trópico

as Director of Photography

1940
The Mad Monk

as Director of Photography

1940
El jefe máximo

as Director of Photography

1939
La bestia negra

as Director of Photography

1939
La casa del ogro

as Director of Photography

1939
The Night of the Mayans

as Director of Photography

1938
Refugiados en Madrid

as Director of Photography

1938
Mientras México duerme

as Director of Photography

1937
La Adelita

as Director of Photography

1936
Let's Go with Pancho Villa!

as Camera Operator

1936
Cielito lindo

as Director of Photography

1936
Allá en el Rancho Grande

as Director of Photography

1934
Enemigos

as Still Photographer

Crew

1983
Mexico 2000

as Cinematography

1983
Mundo mágico

as Cinematography

1981
El héroe desconocido

as Cinematography

1978
The House of the Pelican

as Cinematography

1978
Cananea

as Cinematography

1977
Maten al León

as Cinematography

1976
Life Changes

as Cinematography

1975
Cry of the Turtle

as Cinematography

1975
Omen

as Cinematography

1973
1972
The She Wolf’s Orgy

as Cinematography

1972
María

as Cinematography

1972
The Children of Satan

as Cinematography

1967
Savage Sunday

as Cinematography

1966
The Four Juanes

as Cinematography

1965
The Beloved Ones

as Cinematography

1965
Las dos Elenas

as Cinematography

1964
The Golden Cockerel

as Cinematography

1960
La estrella vacía

as Cinematography

1958
The Smile of the Virgin

as Photoscience Manager

1956
The Hidden One

as Cinematography

1956
Pueblo, canto y esperanza

as Cinematography

1955
1955
La mujer X

as Cinematography

1954
La rosa blanca

as Cinematography

1953
The Boy and the Fog

as Cinematography

1952
El mar y tu

as Cinematography

1951
Pecado

as Cinematography

1949
Prisión de sueños

as Cinematography

1949
Opio

as Cinematography

1945
The Abandoned

as Cinematography

1944
La mujer sin cabeza

as Cinematography

1944
The Black Ace

as Cinematography

1942
Story of a Great Love

as Cinematography