Joseph Biroc; Academy Award-Winning Cinematographer

Joseph Biroc, 93, who shared an Academy Award for cinematography on the prototype disaster film “The Towering Inferno.” In addition to the Oscar that Biroc shared with Fred Koenekamp, he received several Emmys and in 1989 a lifetime achievement award from the Society of American Cinematographers. During World War II, he filmed the liberation of Paris for the U.S. Army Signal Corps as part of Frank Capra’s photo unit. In his seven-decade career, Biroc filmed more than 80 motion pictures. He made one of the first 3-D films, “Bwana Devil,” and shared the photography credit on the classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Among his other films were “Home Before Dark,” “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte.” He began his career at age 15 working in a film laboratory at Paragon Studios in Fort Lee, N.J., became an assistant cameraman in Paramount’s Long Island, N.Y., studio, and moved to Hollywood in 1927. On Sept. 7 in Woodland Hills.