--- description: He was ranked among the 10 most influential cinematographers in film history title: 'Close Encounters' Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond Dies at 85 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0614f49a8ff23c84/698877598e060163a2463f4a/ap_811189442597.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 # _Close Encounters_ Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond Dies at 85 by [Alex Heigl / People](/author/people/) ## Alex Heigl / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 4, 2016 2:24 AM CUT  Hungarian born cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond is interviewed by the Hungarian News Agency MTI in Budapest, Hungary on April 7, 2015. Hungarian born cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond is interviewed by the Hungarian News Agency MTI in Budapest, Hungary on April 7, 2015.Tamas Kovacs—MTI/AP by [Alex Heigl / People](/author/people/) ## Alex Heigl / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 4, 2016 2:24 AM CUT Oscar-winning cinematography Vilmos Zsigmond, who worked on _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_ and _The Deer Hunter_, among others, died Jan. 1 at 85, his [business partner Yuri Neyman confirmed. ](http://variety.com/2016/film/news/vilmos-zsigmond-dead-dies-cinematographer-1201670799/ "undefined") Zsigmond’s five-decade career included work on _Deliverance, Blow Out, The Ghost_ and the _Darkness_ and _The Long Goodbye_. He won an Academy Award for _Close Encounters_ and was nominated for his work in _The Deer Hunter, The River_ and _The Black Dahlia._ More recently, Zsigmond shot a number of episodes of Mindy Kaling’s sitcom _The Mindy Project_. In 2003, he was ranked among the 10 most influential cinematographers in film history in a survey by the International Cinematographers Guild. Zsigmond escaped his native Hungary at 26 after Russia invaded in 1956\. He started working on low-budget films before getting his break in 1971 with Robert Altman’s McCabe and Mrs. Miller. He eventually worked with Martin Scorsese (on the documentary about The Band’s final live performance, _The Last Waltz_) as well as Michael Cimino (_The Deer Hunter_ and _Heaven’s Gate_) and Brian de Palma (_Blow Out_ and _The Bonfire of the Vanities_). Showing a humility that belied his long list of achievements, Zsigmond once told Rolling Stone that “a cinematographer can only be as good as the director.” [_This article originally appeared on People.com_](http://www.people.com/article/Vilmos-Zsigmond-cinematographer-dies "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4165749/vilmos-zsigmond-close-encounters-cinematographer-obituary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4165749/vilmos-zsigmond-close-encounters-cinematographer-obituary/"},"headline":"Close Encounters Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond Dies at 85","datePublished":"2016-01-04T02:24:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:44:03.355Z","description":"He was ranked among the 10 most influential cinematographers in film history","url":"https://time.com/4165749/vilmos-zsigmond-close-encounters-cinematographer-obituary/","keywords":["remembrance"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0614f49a8ff23c84/698877598e060163a2463f4a/ap_811189442597.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Heigl / People"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0614f49a8ff23c84/698877598e060163a2463f4a/ap_811189442597.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hungary Obit Vilmos Zsigmond","caption":"Hungary Obit Vilmos Zsigmond","creditText":"Tamas Kovacs—MTI/AP","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/4165749/vilmos-zsigmond-close-encounters-cinematographer-obituary/","name":"Close Encounters Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond Dies at 85"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Saving Cinema One Frame at a Time","description":"The world's film heritage is deteriorating fast, but cinema can still be saved.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dJ18ridL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-02-28T02:03:14.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dJ18ridL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4165749/vilmos-zsigmond-close-encounters-cinematographer-obituary/","duration":"PT3M57S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4165749/vilmos-zsigmond-close-encounters-cinematographer-obituary/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```