John W. Boyle

John W. Boyle, who occasionally would simply be credited as John Boyle, was an American cinematographer (director of photography), whose career spanned from the silent era through the 1950s. Over his career he would photograph more than 150 films, including features, shorts and documentaries. He would also work on several British films over the course of his career.

Life and career

Born in Memphis, Tennessee on September 1, 1891, would enter the film industry in 1915, when he shot three films, Greater Love Hath No Man, Her Great Match, and My Madonna. In 1917 he would photograph the silent classic, Cleopatra, starring Theda Bara. The film is on the American Film Institute's "Ten Most Wanted" list of lost American classics. ^[1] J. Gordon Edwards helmed the film, and the two would work together on 22 other films over the following twelve years,^[2] including such classics as Salomé and When a Woman Sins, both again starring Bara, and The Queen of Sheba, starring Betty Blythe.^{[3][4] [5]}

During his long career, he would film over 70 feature films, both in the United States and Great Britain, several documentaries (one of which, Sweden, Land of the Vikings (1934), he would also produce).^[6] Beginning in 1928, Boyle would also begin to work on film shorts, many of which would be produced by Mack Sennett through 1933.^[7] Boyle would serve as the president of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) from 1928-29.^[8] Boyle died on September 28, 1959 in Hollywood, California.^[9]

Filmography

(Per AFI and BFI databases)^[2][10]

References