Hal Rosson; Pioneer Film Cameraman

Harold (Hal) Rosson, the celebrated and venerated director of photography whose work ranged from such significant silent pictures as “David Harum” in 1915 to a cherished filmdom fantasy, “The Wizard of Oz,” has died.

The long-retired Rosson was 93 when he died Tuesday at his Palm Beach, Fla. home, said Robert Terry, a nephew.

One of three brothers and a sister who came to Hollywood in the early part of the century (Arthur and Richard became directors while Helene Rosson acted in silent pictures), Rosson worked closely with directors Cecil B. DeMille and Allan Dwan for many years. He began his career as an actor at the old Vitagraph studio but switched to camera operation in time to film “Harum,” his first credit.

In “The Art of the Cinematographer,” writer Leonard Maltin asked Rosson how much freedom the early movie cinematographers had to illustrate their directors’ concepts.

“You were more or less completely on your own,” he replied.

Rosson, who became Jean Harlow’s third and last husband in 1933, photographed dozens of pictures in his 52-year career. They included a near equal number of silent and sound films and included the original “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (1928), the remake of DeMille’s legendary “The Squaw Man” (1931), “Treasure Island” (1934,) “Oz” (1939), “Duel in the Sun” (1947), “On the Town” (1949), “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952), and his last, “El Dorado,” in 1967.

He was one of the cinematographers most closely associated with the elegant polish of Metro Goldwyn Mayer films of the 1930s and ‘40s.

In 1936 he shared (with W. Howard Greene) an honorary Academy Award for pioneering color cinematography on the desert melodrama “The Garden of Allah.” It was, Rosson said in a 1971 interview, the first color photography he had ever attempted.

He was nominated for four other Oscars: in 1940 for “Boom Town,” in 1944 for “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo,” in 1950 for “The Asphalt Jungle” and in 1956 for “The Bad Seed.”

Rosson’s marriage to Harlow ended in 1935. He later married Yvonne Crellin, but they also divorced. He had no children.

A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Hollywood. Burial will follow at Hollywood Memorial Park.