Harold Rosson

Personal Info

Known For Camera

Gender Male

Birthday 1895-04-06

Deathday 1988-09-06 (93 years old)

Place of Birth New York City, New York, USA

Also Known As Harold G. Rosson, Hal Rosson

Harold Rosson

Biography

From Wikipedia Harold G. "Hal" Rosson, A.S.C. (April 6, 1895 – September 6, 1988) was an American cinematographer who worked during the early and classical Hollywood cinema. He is best known for his work on the 1939 fantasy film The Wizard of Oz. Harold Rosson began his film career in 1908 as an actor at the Vitagraph Studios in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, New York City. He became the assistant to Irvin Willat at the Mark Dintenfass Studios. In 1912 he divided his time as an office boy in a stockbrokers firm and as an assistant, extra, and handyman at the Famous Players Studio in New York. His first film for Famous Players was David Harum (1915). In December 1914, Rosson moved to California and joined Metro Pictures. During World War I, he served in the United States Army. After his demobilization, he went to work on the Marion Davies film The Dark Star. He was offered a contract with the Davies Company. In 1920 he was signed by Mary Pickford, working primarily with her brother Jack Pickford. In the 1930s, Rosson signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed the photography for some of the studio's most popular films including Treasure Island (1934), The Wizard of Oz, Duel in the Sun, and Singin' in the Rain (1952). In 1936, Rosson and fellow cinematographer W. Howard Greene were awarded an Honorary Oscar for the color cinematography of the 1936 David O. Selznick production The Garden of Allah. Rosson later said it was the first time he attempted to film in color. After a very long and successful career in Hollywood, Rosson retired in 1958. He briefly came out of retirement in 1966 for the Howard Hawks film El Dorado starring John Wayne. Rosson was married twice, with both marriages ending in divorce, and had no children. While shooting the film Bombshell in 1933, actress Jean Harlow proposed to Rosson. The two had worked together previously on Red-Headed Woman, Dinner at Eight, Hold Your Man, and Red Dust and had struck up a friendship. On September 17, 1933, the two were married in Yuma, Arizona. In an interview with Leicester Wagner, Harlow recalled that she and Rosson grew closer after the death of her second husband, Paul Bern, and he encouraged her to go out and socialize. Rosson and Harlow separated in May 1934 with Harlow charging that Rosson was "rude, sullen and irritable". She was granted a divorce in March 1935. On October 11, 1936, Rosson married socialite Yvonne Crellin in Beverly Hills. They divorced in June 1945. On September 6, 1988, Rosson died, age 93, at his home in Palm Beach, Florida. He is buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Known For

Camera

1966
El Dorado

as Director of Photography

1957
The Enemy Below

as Director of Photography

1956
Toward the Unknown

as Director of Photography

1956
The Bad Seed

as Director of Photography

1955
Strange Lady in Town

as Director of Photography

1955
Pete Kelly's Blues

as Director of Photography

1954
Mambo

as Director of Photography

1954
Ulysses

as Director of Photography

1953
The Actress

as Director of Photography

1953
The Story of Three Loves

as Director of Photography

1953
Dangerous When Wet

as Director of Photography

1953
I Love Melvin

as Director of Photography

1952
Singin' in the Rain

as Director of Photography

1952
Love Is Better Than Ever

as Director of Photography

1952
Lone Star

as Director of Photography

1951
The Red Badge of Courage

as Director of Photography

1950
The Asphalt Jungle

as Director of Photography

1950
Key to the City

as Director of Photography

1950
To Please a Lady

as Director of Photography

1949
Any Number Can Play

as Director of Photography

1949
The Stratton Story

as Director of Photography

1949
On the Town

as Director of Photography

1948
Homecoming

as Director of Photography

1948
Command Decision

as Director of Photography

1947
Living in a Big Way

as Director of Photography

1947
The Hucksters

as Director of Photography

1946
Duel in the Sun

as Director of Photography

1946
Three Wise Fools

as Director of Photography

1946
No Leave, No Love

as Director of Photography

1945
Between Two Women

as Director of Photography

1944
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

as Director of Photography

1944
An American Romance

as Director of Photography

1943
Slightly Dangerous

as Director of Photography

1942
Somewhere I'll Find You

as Director of Photography

1942
Tennessee Johnson

as Director of Photography

1941
Johnny Eager

as Director of Photography

1941
Washington Melodrama

as Director of Photography

1940
Boom Town

as Director of Photography

1940
Dr. Kildare Goes Home

as Director of Photography

1940
I Take This Woman

as Director of Photography

1939
The Wizard of Oz

as Director of Photography

1939
Forgotten Victory

as Director of Photography

1938
That Mothers Might Live

as Director of Photography

1938
Too Hot to Handle

as Director of Photography

1937
They Gave Him a Gun

as Director of Photography

1937
The Emperor's Candlesticks

as Director of Photography

1937
Captains Courageous

as Director of Photography

1937
Double Wedding

as Director of Photography

1936
The Devil Is a Sissy

as Director of Photography

1936
As You Like It

as Director of Photography

1936
The Man Who Could Work Miracles

as Director of Photography

1935
The Ghost Goes West

as Director of Photography

1934
The Scarlet Pimpernel

as Director of Photography

1934
This Side of Heaven

as Director of Photography

1934
The Cat and the Fiddle

as Director of Photography

1934
Treasure Island

as Director of Photography

1933
Penthouse

as Director of Photography

1933
Hold Your Man

as Director of Photography

1933
The Barbarian

as Director of Photography

1933
Turn Back the Clock

as Director of Photography

1933
Bombshell

as Director of Photography

1932
Red Dust

as Director of Photography

1932
Kongo

as Director of Photography

1932
Red-Headed Woman

as Director of Photography

1932
Downstairs

as Director of Photography

1932
Tarzan the Ape Man

as Director of Photography

1931
The Cuban Love Song

as Director of Photography

1931
The Squaw Man

as Director of Photography

1931
Men Call It Love

as Director of Photography

1931
Sporting Blood

as Director of Photography

1931
Son of India

as Director of Photography

1930
Madam Satan

as Director of Photography

1930
This Mad World

as Director of Photography

1930
Passion Flower

as Director of Photography

1929
Trent's Last Case

as Director of Photography

1929
South Sea Rose

as Director of Photography

1929
The Case of Lena Smith

as Director of Photography

1928
The Docks of New York

as Director of Photography

1928
Abie's Irish Rose

as Director of Photography

1928
The Drag Net

as Director of Photography

1928
Three Week Ends

as Director of Photography

1928
The Sawdust Paradise

as Director of Photography

1928
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

as Director of Photography

1927
Rough House Rosie

as Director of Photography

1927
Evening Clothes

as Director of Photography

1927
A Gentleman of Paris

as Director of Photography

1927
Service for Ladies

as Director of Photography

1927
Getting Gertie's Garter

as Director of Photography

1927
Man Bait

as Director of Photography

1926
Almost a Lady

as Director of Photography

1926
Up in Mabel's Room

as Director of Photography

1925
Too Many Kisses

as Director of Photography

1925
A Man Must Live

as Director of Photography

1924
Manhandled

as Director of Photography

1923
Dark Secrets

as Director of Photography

1923
Zaza

as Director of Photography

1923
The Glimpses of the Moon

as Director of Photography

1921
Buried Treasure

as Director of Photography

1920
Heliotrope

as Camera Operator

1919
The Cinema Murder

as Director of Photography

1917
The American Consul

as Director of Photography

1917
Panthea

as Director of Photography

1916
Oliver Twist

as Director of Photography

Crew

1938
A Yank at Oxford

as Cinematography

1931
Love in Every Port

as Cinematography

1929
Frozen Justice

as Cinematography

1929
The Far Call

as Cinematography

1927
Open Range

as Cinematography

1925
The Little French Girl

as Cinematography

1924
Manhattan

as Cinematography

Actor

1993
Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell

as Self (archive footage)