Pioneer cinematographer George Folsey began his career in 1914 as an errand boy with the Lasky Feature Play Company in New York.
His introduction to camerawork came when he was asked by cinematographer H. Lyman Broening to assist with post-production, specifically tracking dissolve and fades for intercutting.
By the time he was 21, Folsey had worked his way up the ladder to lighting cameraman. During the 1920s, he established a reputation for fluidity of camera movement and for his use of subtle lighting, which was a departure from the harsher contrasts prevalent in silent pictures up to that time.
This softer approach proved more flattering to the stars. In fact, Alice Brady, the leading lady in his first motion picture as a fully-fledged cinematographer, His Bridal Night (1919),was so impressed by his work that she wished him to shoot all of her future films.
After a stint at Associated First National, Folsey joined Paramount under contract to shoot the Rouben Mamoulian melodrama Applause (1929) and followed this with the first outings of the Marx Brothers, The Cocoanuts (1929) and Animal Crackers (1930). He remained with Paramount until 1932 and then signed with MGM, where he stayed until 1959.
His collaboration with director Vincente Minnelli was particularly fruitful and culminated in the lavish Technicolour musical Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). Many of his films in the 40's and 50's stand out for their striking, lush colours, as exemplified by the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet (1956),which owes much of its cult status to the cinematographer.
Folsey was a favorite of director Frank Borzage and of star actress Joan Crawford. Despite being nominated for thirteen Oscars, he never won a single one. However, he did receive the prestigious George Eastman Medal of Honour in 1957.
Additionally, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Society of Cinematographers in March 1988.
