Adrian Biddle

Adrian Biddle, B.S.C. (born on 20 July 1952 in Woolwich, London – 7 December 2005 in London), was an English cinematographer.

Early years

Biddle was a talented swimmer in his youth, and it was through this that he broke into the film industry. In 1969 the underwater photographer Egil Woxholt hired him to be his apprentice. Uncredited, he worked in this capacity on both the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and Murphy's War (1971).

Career

After this, Biddle worked for Ridley Scott's advertising company R.S.A. where worked on a large number of advertisements with Scott and when Scott moved into films, Biddle followed him.

On The Duellists (1977) he worked as a clapper loader, before advancing to the position of focus puller on Alien (1979).

Following Alien, Biddle returned to working as a cinematographer on advertisements. During this time he developed a number of new lighting techniques and worked on a number of famous campaigns. His most famous ad was 1984 (1984), directed by Ridley Scott, for Apple. The advert's photography, combined with a personal recommendation from Scott, prompted James Cameron to hire Biddle as his cinematographer for the film Aliens (1986), the first film Biddle worked on in this role.

Biddle was a cinematographer on a further 25 feature films, including Thelma and Louise (1991), for which he received a nomination for the Oscar for Best Cinematography. In 1997 he was voted European Cinematographer of the Year for his work on The Butcher Boy. The last film that he worked on, prior to his death from a myocardial infarction, was V for Vendetta (2006) which was dedicated to his memory.

His brother is cinematographer Adam Biddle.

Filmography (as cinematographer)

• Aliens (1986)
• The Princess Bride (1987)
• Willow (1988)
• The Dawning (1989)
• The Tall Guy (1989)
• Thelma and Louise (1991)
• 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
• City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994)
• Judge Dredd (1995)
• 101 Dalmatians (1996)
• The Butcher Boy (1997)
• Event Horizon (1997)
• Fierce Creatures (1997)
• Holy Man (1998)
• The World Is Not Enough (1999)
• The Mummy (1999)
• The Weight of Water (2000)
• Gangster No. 1 (2000)
• 102 Dalmatians (2000)
• The Mummy Returns (2001)
• Reign of Fire (2002)
• Shanghai Knights (2003)
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)
• Laws of Attraction (2004)
• An American Haunting (2005)
• V for Vendetta (2005)

External links

• Adrian Biddle at the Internet Movie Database
• Guardian Unlimited obituary