Yahoo Lifestyle 'Lord of the Rings' Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie Dies at 59
He was 59.
In addition to working with director Peter Jackson on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy series, Lesnie was responsible for several blockbusters such as Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Will Smith’s I Am Legend.
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In 2002, he won his first and only Oscar for lensing the original Lord of the Rings pic, The Fellowship of the Ring.
“I wouldn’t recommend that anyone do a trilogy,” he joked at the time.
After the Lord of the Rings franchise, Lesnie continued to work behind the camera for Jackson on King Kong, 2009’s The Lovely Bones and, most recently, The Hobbit trilogy.
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Jackson has yet to release an official statement on Lesnie’s passing, but the staff at his production house in New Zealand, WETA Digital, said they were “saddened” by the news.
“Our memories of Andrew will always be of a wonderful and caring person who looked out for the technicians around him, was keen to have a good laugh and keep everyone jollied along even when things were at the most stressful for everyone,” owners Richard & Tania Taylor wrote on Facebook.
“What an incredible man and we are very fortunate to have had the chance to work with him on so many wonderful projects.”
Lesnie’s final work was Russell Crowe’s The Water Diviner.
Crowe took to Twitter late Monday to express his condolences.
Devastating news from home. The master of the light, genius Andrew Lesnie has passed on .
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) April 28, 2015
Lesnie, who lived in Sydney, was also a frequent collaborator of director George Miller’s. The duo worked together on the gritty Mad Max: Road Warrior before shifting gears to make the family-friendly Babe movies.
In addition to winning Oscar, Lesnie was feted in 2003 at the BAFTA Awards for his work on the Lord of the Rings finale Return of the King and in 1997, he received AFI’s cinematography award for Doing Time For Patsy Cline.
A spokesman from the Cinematographers Society in Australia said “We have been advised of the sudden death of Andrew.” An official announcement is expected later Tuesday from his family.
He is survived by his partner and two sons.
