L. B. Abbott

Lenwood Ballard "Bill" Abbott, A.S.C. (June 13, 1908 – September 28, 1985) was an American special effects expert, cinematographer and cameraman.

L. B. Abbott A.S.C.
Born	Lenwood Ballard Abbott (1908-06-13)June 13, 1908 Pasadena, California
Died	September 28, 1985(1985-09-28) (aged 77) Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Cinematographer
Awards	Best Special Visual Effect 1967 Doctor Dolittle 1970 Tora! Tora! Tora! Special Achievement Award 1972 The Poseidon Adventure 1976 Logan's Run

He became the head of the Special Effects Department at 20th Century Fox in 1957, a post he held until retirement in 1970.^[1] He was called out of retirement, however, to work on the TV series M*A*S*H in 1972 (Abbott had worked on the film on which the series was based). Abbott was a member of the American Society of Cinematographers.

Awards and nominations

He was four times a winner or co-winner of an Academy Special Achievement Award for visual effects for Doctor Dolittle in 1968, Tora! Tora! Tora! in 1971 (shared with A. D. Flowers), The Poseidon Adventure in 1972 and Logan's Run in 1976.^[2]

Selected filmography

• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
• The Enemy Below (1957)
• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961 film)
• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV series (1964-1968)
• Lost in Space (TV Series 1965–1968)
• The Sound of Music (1965)
• The Time Tunnel TV series (1966-1967)
• Fantastic Voyage (1966)
• Planet of the Apes (1968)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
• Patton (1970)
• M*A*S*H (1972)
• The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
• The Towering Inferno (1974)
• Logan's Run (1976)
• The Swarm (1978)
• When Time Ran Out (1980)

References

1. Johnson, John (1996). Cheap Tricks and Class Acts: Special Effects, Makeup, and Stunts from the Films of the Fantastic Fifties. McFarland. p. 383. ISBN 978-0-7864-0093-5.
2. Samuelson, David (2014-03-26). Hands-on Manual for Cinematographers. CRC Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-136-04474-8.

External links

• L. B. Abbott at IMDb

See also

• Frank Van der Veer