Charles Lung

A formidable talent behind the camera, Charles Lang was nominated for an Academy Award 18 times, more than any other director of photography, apart from his colleague Leon Shamroy, who also has 18 nominations. Lang began working as a co-cinematographer toward the end of the silent film era, but soon climbed the ranks. By 1930, he was in charge of shooting the Paramount Pictures production of the classic Mark Twain story "Tom Sawyer," which had been filmed twice before as a silent film but was being reshot with sound. It was the biggest hit of the year, thus establishing Lang's reputation. He would go on to enjoy a working relationship with Paramount for over 20 years. He was so important to the studio that the lighting style he introduced when shooting the Hemingway-based "A Farewell to Arms" in 1932 became the studio's signature style throughout the next two decades. When he finished his contract with the studio in the 1950s, he began a career as a freelancer and went on to shoot many classic films, such as the Western "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" in 1957, the Marilyn Monroe comedy "Some Like it Hot" in 1959, and the Elvis vehicle "Blue Hawaii" in 1961. During his career, he worked on over 114 films, earning a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Cinematographers in 1991.