Biography
Sol Polito was a cinematographer. Born Salvatore Polito on 12 November 1892 in Palermo, Sicily, Italy, he immigrated to the United States in 1905. He attended school in New York City and began working in the motion picture industry as a still photographer. After experience as a lab assistant and camera assistant, he was promoted to lighting cameraman in 1917.
Polito moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1919. He worked on more than 170 films at various studios but is best known for his work at Warner Bros. with directors Michael Curtiz and Mervyn LeRoy in the 1930s and 1940s. His credits include cinematography on Five Star Final (1931), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), 42nd Street (1933), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Sergeant York (1941) and Now, Voyager (1942). He received three Academy Award nominations for cinematography.
Polito died in Los Angeles on 23 May 1960. His elder son, Gene Polito, also became a cinematographer.
