Michael Ballhaus, A.S.C. (5 August 1935 – 12 April 2017) was a German cinematographer. He is known for his work with directors including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Martin Scorsese, Mike Nichols, James L. Brooks, and Wolfgang Petersen. He was a member of both the Academy of Arts, Berlin, and the American Society of Cinematographers.

Early life

Ballhaus was born on 5 August 1935 in Berlin to actors and. His uncle was actor and director Carl Ballhaus. Ballhaus was influenced by family friend Max Ophüls, and appeared as an extra in Ophüls' last film Lola Montès (1955).

Career

Ballhaus came to prominence for his work with director Rainer Werner Fassbinder on films including Whity (1971), The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), Chinese Roulette (1976) and The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978). After settling in the United States, he worked on American films such as Baby It's You (1983) for John Sayles; Old Enough (1984) for Marisa Silver; Under the Cherry Moon (1986) for Prince; After Hours (1985), The Color of Money (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), Gangs of New York (2002) and The Departed (2006) for Martin Scorsese; Broadcast News (1987) and I'll Do Anything (1994) for James L. Brooks; The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) for Steve Kloves; Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) for Francis Ford Coppola; Sleepers (1996) for Barry Levinson; and Wild Wild West (1999) for Barry Sonnenfeld. Ballhaus appeared in Rosa von Praunheim's film Fassbinder's Women (2000). In 1990, Ballhaus was the head of the jury at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival. Ballhaus was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, for his work on Broadcast News, The Fabulous Baker Boys and Gangs of New York, but never won. He won the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography for Bram Stoker's Dracula, the Boston Society of Film Critics and Los Angeles Film Critics Association cinematography awards for The Fabulous Baker Boys, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography for Goodfellas. His documentary In Berlin, made with Ciro Cappellari, was released in May 2009. Ballhaus' final film was Sherry Hormann's 3096 Days in 2013.

Personal life and death

Ballhaus was married to actress and art director Helga Maria Betten from 1958 until her death in 2006. They had two sons: cinematographer Florian and assistant director Jan Sebastian. In 2011, Ballhaus married German-American director Sherry Hormann. He died at his home in Berlin on 12 April 2017, at the age of 81, after a short illness.

Filmography

Cinematographer

Film

Short film

Television

TV movies TV short

Documentary works

Film Short film TV movies

Director

Documentary film Feature film

Producer

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards BAFTA Awards Chicago Film Critics Association Los Angeles Film Critics Association Satellite Awards Other awards