Clyde de Vinna

Born: 1892 in Sedalia, Missouri
Died: 1953 in Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Cinematographer
Active: '20s-'40s
Major Genres: Drama, Adventure
Career Highlights: Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, Tarzan and His Mate, Tarzan, the Ape Man
First Major Screen Credit: Civilization (1916)

Biography

University of Arkansas grad Clyde DeVinna began his Hollywood career in 1915 at the Thomas Ince studios. A versatile and quick-witted cameraman, DeVinna was one of seven photographers turning the cranks for Ince's anti-war epic Civilization (1915). He worked his way up to principal cameraman on the films of William S. Hart and other Ince contractees. During the 1920s, DeVinna's name popped up with increasing regularity on the credits of films requiring extensive location photography, notably MGM's Ben-Hur (1926) and White Shadows on the South Seas (1928). He continued excelling in outdoor lenswork into the sound era on such films as Trader Horn (1931), Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), and Eskimo (1933). So often did Clyde DeVinna take his camera into unchartered non-Hollywood territory that it's not surprising his final film was 1952's The Jungle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide