---
name: "Karl Struss"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/karl-struss"
fi1m_id: "karl-struss"
imdb_id: "nm0835365"
tmdb_id: 9081
wikidata_id: "Q1351247"
roles: ["Cinematographer"]
born: "30 November 1886"
died: "16 December 1981"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 84
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-25T00:09:33.044027+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Karl Struss

## Identity

Karl Struss

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/karl-struss
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** karl-struss
- **IMDb ID:** nm0835365
- **TMDB ID:** 9081
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1351247
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Struss, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1351247, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0835365/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/9081

Cinematographer. Born 30 November 1886 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 16 December 1981.

## Details

- **Work:** Cinematographer
- **Born:** 30 November 1886, New York City, New York, USA
- **Died:** 16 December 1981
- **Active:** 1927–1940
- **Also known as:** Carlo Struss, Karl O. Struss
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 4 nominated)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1920s 88 (1), 1940s 80 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Struss, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1351247, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0835365/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/9081

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans*](https://film.one/film/sunrise-a-song-of-two-humans.md) (88)
- **HBO Max:** [*The Great Dictator*](https://film.one/film/the-great-dictator.md) (80)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Karl Struss was an American cinematographer and photographer. Born in New York City on 30 November 1886, he studied photography at Columbia University with Clarence H. White. After service in the First World War, he moved to Los Angeles in 1919 and began working as a cameraman for Cecil B. DeMille.

Struss photographed many films across the silent and sound eras. He shared the first Academy Award for Best Cinematography with Charles Rosher for F. W. Murnau's *Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans* (1927). Other credits include *Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ* (1925), *Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde* (1931), Charlie Chaplin's *The Great Dictator* (1940) and *Limelight* (1952), and *The Fly* (1958). He received three further Academy Award nominations and was a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He also contributed to early 3-D work and photographed episodes of television series including *My Friend Flicka*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, theasc.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *The Great Dictator* (1940), Fi1m 80, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/the-great-dictator.md)
- *Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans* (1927), Fi1m 88, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/sunrise-a-song-of-two-humans.md)

## Complete filmography (105)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Counterplot* (1959), Director of Photography
- *The Alligator People* (1959), Director of Photography
- *Machete* (1958), Director of Photography
- *The Fly* (1958), Director of Photography
- *The Deerslayer* (1957), Director of Photography
- *She Devil* (1957), Director of Photography
- *Kronos* (1957), Director of Photography
- *Mohawk* (1956), Director of Photography
- *Attila* (1954), Camera Operator
- *Poverty and Nobility* (1954), Director of Photography
- *Two Nights with Cleopatra* (1954), Director of Photography
- *Funniest Show on Earth* (1953), Director of Photography
- *Neapolitan Turk* (1953), Director of Photography
- *Mesa of Lost Women* (1953), Cinematography
- *Domenica a Capri* (1953), Director
- *Limelight* (1952), Director of Photography
- *Tarzan's Savage Fury* (1952), Director of Photography
- *Rose of Cimarron* (1952), Director of Photography
- *Lady Possessed* (1952), Director of Photography
- *Tarzan's Peril* (1951), Director of Photography
- *The Texan Meets Calamity Jane* (1950), Director of Photography
- *The Return of Jesse James* (1950), Director of Photography
- *It's a Small World* (1950), Director of Photography
- *Rocketship X-M* (1950), Director of Photography
- *Call of the Forest* (1949), Director of Photography
- *Tarzan's Magic Fountain* (1949), Director of Photography
- *Siren of Atlantis* (1949), Director of Photography
- *Hello Out There* (1949), Director of Photography
- *The Dude Goes West* (1948), Director of Photography
- *The Macomber Affair* (1947), Director of Photography
- *Suspense* (1946), Director of Photography
- *Tarzan and the Leopard Woman* (1946), Director of Photography
- *Bring on the Girls* (1945), Director of Photography
- *Rainbow Island* (1944), Director of Photography
- *And the Angels Sing* (1944), Director of Photography
- *Riding High* (1943), Director of Photography
- *Journey into Fear* (1943), Director of Photography
- *Happy Go Lucky* (1943), Director of Photography
- *Aloma of the South Seas* (1941), Director of Photography
- *Caught in the Draft* (1941), Director of Photography
- *The Great Dictator* (1940), Director of Photography — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/the-great-dictator.md)
- *The Star Maker* (1939), Director of Photography
- *Island of Lost Men* (1939), Director of Photography
- *Zenobia* (1939), Director of Photography
- *Paris Honeymoon* (1939), Director of Photography
- *Thanks for the Memory* (1938), Director of Photography
- *Sing, You Sinners* (1938), Cinematography
- *Every Day's a Holiday* (1937), Director of Photography
- *Mountain Music* (1937), Director of Photography
- *Waikiki Wedding* (1937), Director of Photography
- *Go West Young Man* (1936), Director of Photography
- *Let's Make a Million* (1936), Director of Photography
- *Hollywood Boulevard* (1936), Director of Photography
- *Too Many Parents* (1936), Cinematography
- *The Preview Murder Mystery* (1936), Director of Photography
- *Anything Goes* (1936), Director of Photography
- *Two for Tonight* (1935), Director of Photography
- *Goin' to Town* (1935), Director of Photography
- *Mississippi* (1935), Director of Photography
- *Here Is My Heart* (1934), Director of Photography
- *Belle of the Nineties* (1934), Cinematography
- *Four Frightened People* (1934), Director of Photography
- *Torch Singer* (1933), Director of Photography
- *Disgraced!* (1933), Director of Photography
- *The Story of Temple Drake* (1933), Director of Photography
- *The Woman Accused* (1933), Director of Photography
- *Tonight Is Ours* (1933), Director of Photography
- *Island of Lost Souls* (1932), Director of Photography
- *The Sign of the Cross* (1932), Director of Photography
- *The Man from Yesterday* (1932), Director of Photography
- *Forgotten Commandments* (1932), Director of Photography
- *The World and the Flesh* (1932), Director of Photography
- *Dancers in the Dark* (1932), Director of Photography
- *Two Kinds of Women* (1932), Director of Photography
- *Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde* (1931), Director of Photography
- *The Road to Reno* (1931), Director of Photography
- *Women Love Once* (1931), Director of Photography
- *Up Pops the Devil* (1931), Director of Photography
- *Skippy* (1931), Director of Photography
- *Danger Lights* (1931), Director of Photography
- *Abraham Lincoln* (1930), Director of Photography
- *The Bad One* (1930), Director of Photography
- *One Romantic Night* (1930), Director of Photography
- *Be Yourself!* (1930), Director of Photography
- *Lummox* (1930), Director of Photography
- *The Taming of the Shrew* (1929), Director of Photography
- *Coquette* (1929), Director of Photography
- *The Battle of the Sexes* (1928), Director of Photography
- *Night Watch* (1928), Director of Photography
- *Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans* (1927), Director of Photography — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/sunrise-a-song-of-two-humans.md)
- *Babe Comes Home* (1927), Director of Photography
- *Forever After* (1926), Director of Photography
- *Sparrows* (1926), Director of Photography
- *Hell's Four Hundred* (1926), Director of Photography
- *Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ* (1925), Director of Photography
- *Mothers-in-Law* (1923), Director of Photography
- *Daughters of the Rich* (1923), Director of Photography
- *Poor Men's Wives* (1923), Director of Photography
- *The Hero* (1923), Cinematography
- *Thorns and Orange Blossoms* (1922), Cinematography
- *Minnie* (1922), Director of Photography
- *Rich Men's Wives* (1922), Cinematography
- *Saturday Night* (1922), Director of Photography
- *Fool's Paradise* (1921), Director of Photography
- *Something to Think About* (1920), Director of Photography

## Gallery

- ![Karl Struss](https://film.one/media/person/102847/gallery-b527c639373f.jpg) Karl Struss — Clarence H. White, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Karl_Struss_1912.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 1929. From left to right: unidentified; actor Richard Arlen; unidentified; AMPAS president](https://film.one/media/person/102847/gallery-6ddf2d834e89.jpg) Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 1929. From left to right: unidentified; actor Richard Arlen; unidentified; AMPAS president — Photographed by Charles E. Lynch (as Chas. E. Lynch) (signature bottom-left); Obtained from Photofest, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Janet_Gaynor_with_Group_1929.jpg/1280px-Janet_Gaynor_with_Group_1929.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 4 nominated

- 1942: Best Cinematography, Color (nominated), for *Aloma of the South Seas*
- 1934: Best Cinematography (nominated), for *The Sign of the Cross*
- 1932: Best Cinematography (nominated), for *Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*
- 1929: Best Cinematography (won), for *Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans*
- 1928: Best Cinematography (nominated), for *Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/karl-struss