Biography
Robert Burks (1909–1968) was an American cinematographer. He began his career at Warner Bros. as a camera operator at the age of 19 and later headed the studio's special photographic effects unit before becoming a director of photography in the mid-1940s. His first credit as director of photography was the short film Jammin' the Blues (1944).
Burks is best known for his collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock, serving as cinematographer on twelve of the director's films from Strangers on a Train (1951) to Marnie (1964), including Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958) and North by Northwest (1959). He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Colour) for To Catch a Thief (1955) and received further Oscar nominations for Strangers on a Train, Rear Window and A Patch of Blue (1965). Other credits include The Fountainhead (1949), The Glass Menagerie (1950) and The Music Man (1962).
Burks and his wife died in a house fire at their home in Huntington Harbour, California, in May 1968.
