Sam Leavitt

For the American football player, see Sam Leavitt (American football).
For the early settler in New Hampshire, see Samuel Leavitt.
Sam Leavitt
On the set of An American Dream
Eleanor Parker and Stuart Whitman (actors), Robert Gist (director, behind them) and Sam Leavitt in white hat (publicity still).
Born(1904-02-06)February 6, 1904
New York City
DiedMarch 21, 1984(1984-03-21) (aged 80)
Woodland Hills, California
OccupationCinematographer
Years active1932 - 1978

Samuel Leavitt, A.S.C. (February 6, 1904 – March 21, 1984), was an American cinematographer nominated for three Academy Awards, winning one for The Defiant Ones (1958).

Leavitt began his career as an assistant camera operator working on 1930s films.[1] Leavitt was a camera operator on films including Rancho Notorious (1952) and on TV's I Love Lucy in the early 1950s[2] before becoming a director of photography in films.

Leavitt was nominated for Academy Awards for Exodus (Best Cinematography Color) (1960)and Anatomy of a Murder (1959) (Best Cinematography Black and White) in the two years following his Oscar win for The Defiant Ones.

Leavitt was born in New York City and died in Woodland Hills, California.

  1. ^ All Movie biography
  2. ^ TCM Biography