John Francis Seitz, A.S.C. (June 23, 1892 – February 27, 1979) was an American cinematographer and inventor.^[1]

He was nominated for seven Academy Awards.

His Hollywood career began in 1909 as a lab assistant with the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company in Chicago. He worked as a lab technician for the American Film Manufacturing Company (known as Flying A), also in Chicago.^[2]

Seitz got his first chance to establish himself as lead cameraman in 1916, and he achieved great success with the director Rex Ingram, most famously on the Rudolph Valentino film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921).

Highly regarded by director Billy Wilder, Seitz worked with him on the film noirs Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), and Sunset Boulevard (1950), receiving Academy Award nominations for each.

During his career, he received seven nominations for Academy Award for Best Cinematography. In 1929, he served as president of the American Society of Cinematographers (A.S.C.) for one year, and he had been a member since 1923. The A.S.C. named the 2002 Heritage Award after Seitz.^[2]

Seitz retired in 1960 and devoted himself to photographic inventions for which he held 18 patents.^[2] An example of a Seitz invention is the matte shot: a large painting is photographed separately and later added to a scene to expand it, add effects, and/or create a sense of depth in backgrounds. He also was noted for his innovations with low-key lighting, which enhanced the film noir style.^[3] A widower, he married screenwriter Marie Boyle in 1934 who raised his daughter Margaret Alice Marhoefer and later gave birth to a son, John Lawrence Seitz.

Seitz is buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery.

Source:^[4]

• Look Magazine Award: Cinematography The Lost Weekend; 1946
• ASC Monthly Film Award: Sunset Blvd.; August 1950
• George Eastman House Medal of Honor: (Outstanding Contribution to the Art of Motion Pictures 1915–1925); 1955

Nominations

• Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, The Divine Lady; 1930. Note: No official nominees had been announced this year.
• Academy Awards: Oscar, Cinematography, Black-and-White, Five Graves to Cairo; 1944.
• Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Double Indemnity; 1945.
• Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, The Lost Weekend; 1946.
• Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Sunset Blvd.; 1951.
• Golden Globes: Golden Globe Award, Best Cinematography, Black and White, Sunset Blvd.; 1951.
• Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Color; When Worlds Collide, shared with: W. Howard Greene; 1952.
• Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Rogue Cop; 1955.