--- description: Lesnie worked on all six 'Lord of the Rings' films with Peter Jackson title: 'Lord of the Rings' Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie Dies at 59 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b44dfb2e9006a94/6987ed2c06f2c122e2337f37/andrew-lesnie.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [remembrance](/tag/remembrance/) ## remembrance Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Lord of the Rings_ Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie Dies at 59 by [Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2015 2:09 PM CUT  Andrew Lesnie on set of 'The Water Diviner' in 2014. Andrew Lesnie on set of 'The Water Diviner' in 2014.©Warner Bros/Everett Collection by [Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2015 2:09 PM CUT Andrew Lesnie, who won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for 2001’s _The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_, [has died at the age of 59](http://deadline.com/2015/04/andrew-lesnie-dies-lord-of-the-rings-cinematographer-oscar-winner-1201417323/ "undefined") following [a fatal heart attack](http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/cinematographer-andrew-lesnie-has-died-from-a-heart-attack/story-e6frfmvr-1227324892475 "undefined"). “It is with overwhelming sadness that I inform you of the passing of our dear friend and colleague Andrew Lesnie ACS ASC, who after suffering a serious heart condition over the last six months died suddenly on Monday, 27 April,” wrote Ron Johanson, [the national president of the Australian Society of Cinematographers](https://www.facebook.com/austcine/posts/1034990323196892 "undefined"), on Facebook. “Words cannot express the absolute feeling of loss, particularly for his immediate family. Andrew gave us many personal cinema moments, moments that will live with us forever, and yet he has been taken from us way too early, and we are now left with those memories.” Lesnie worked on all six _Lord of the Rings_ films for Peter Jackson—both the original trilogy, and the director’s three _Hobbit_ films, the last of which just appeared in theaters last year. He also shot _King Kong_ and _The Lovely Bones_ for Jackson, as well as a handful of other big-budget blockbusters from the last decade, including _I Am Legend_ and _Rise of the Planet of the Apes_. Lesnie’s final film was Russell Crowe’s directorial debut, _The Water Diviner_. Following news of Lesnie’s death, Crowe posted a tribute to the late cinematographer on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/russellcrowe/status/592915597102428161) For more on Lesnie, [head to _The Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/andrew-lesnie-dead-lord-rings-791929 "undefined"). _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/28/andrew-lesnie-dead-lord-of-the-rings-cinematographer?xid=IFT-Trending "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com/ "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3838002/andrew-lesnie-lord-of-the-rings/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3838002/andrew-lesnie-lord-of-the-rings/"},"headline":"Lord of the Rings Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie Dies at 59","datePublished":"2015-04-28T14:09:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:44:15.605Z","description":"Lesnie worked on all six Lord of the Rings films with Peter Jackson","url":"https://time.com/3838002/andrew-lesnie-lord-of-the-rings/","keywords":["remembrance","Lord of the Rings"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b44dfb2e9006a94/6987ed2c06f2c122e2337f37/andrew-lesnie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b44dfb2e9006a94/6987ed2c06f2c122e2337f37/andrew-lesnie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Andrew Lesnie on set of 'The Water Diviner' in 2014.","caption":"Andrew Lesnie on set of 'The Water Diviner' in 2014.","creditText":"©Warner Bros/Everett Collection","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3838002/andrew-lesnie-lord-of-the-rings/","name":"Lord of the Rings Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie Dies at 59"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Top 5 Underrated Sci-Fi Movie Masterpieces","description":"Steven James Snyder, Techland's resident movie geek, outlines the top 5 most under-rated sci-fi movies of all time","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xe99vdU4/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2010-01-11T22:26:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xe99vdU4.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3838002/andrew-lesnie-lord-of-the-rings/","duration":"PT4M45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3838002/andrew-lesnie-lord-of-the-rings/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```