Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie Passes On

Andrew Lesnie, the cinematographer who shot Babe (1995), The Lord of the Rings, King King (2005), and The Hobbit, died April 27 2015 at the age of 59. The cause was a heart attack.

Andrew Lesnie was born in 1956 in Sydney, Australia. He started his career as a camera assistant on the film Patrick in 1979. In the Eighties he served as a documentary cameraman on Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981); an additional photographer on Early Frost (1982) and Dead End Drive-In (1986); and a camera operator on Emoh Ruo (1985) and Tripe (1989). He was director of photography for additional material on The 13th Floor (1988) and second unit director of photography on Farewell to the King (1989). His first cinematography credit came with The Comeback in 1980. In the Eighties he served as cinematographer on such films as The Same Stream (1981), Stations (1983), Fantasy Man (1984), The Man You Know (1984), Unfinished Business (1985), Fair Game (1986), Australian Dream (1987), The Delinquents (1989), Boys in the Island (1990). He also worked in television on the mini-series Cyclone Tracy and the TV movie The Saint: Fear in Fun Park among other projects.

In the Nineties he served as a camera operator on Spider & Rose (1994). He did additional photography for Dark City (1998). He served as cinematographer on The Girl Who Came Late (1992), Fatal Past (1993), Spider & Rose (1994), Babe (1995), Two If by Sea (1996), Doing Time for Patsy Cline (1997), The Sugar Factory (1998), and Babe: Pig in the City (1998).

In the Naughts Andrew Lesnie was cinematographer on The Lord of the Rings, Love's Brother (2004), King Kong (2005), I Am Legend (2007), Bran Nue Dae (2009), The Lovely Bones (2009), and The Last Airbender (2010). He won the Oscar for Best Cinematography for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).

In the Teeens Mr. Lesnie served as cinematographer on Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), the segment "Reunion" in the anthology film The Turning (2013), Healing (2014), The Water Diviner (2014), and The Hobbit films.