Known in Hollywood circles as "the best looking guy out of pictures". He had spurned repeated offers to star in front of the cameras, preferring instead to be the man behind them. At one time or other, he photographed practically everyone who was anyone in 1930s Hollywood, not to mention such luminaries as former US president
Calvin Coolidge. In the mid-'50s he switched from still photography to cinematography and was subsequently employed as director of photography on several television series, most notably
Dennis the Menace (1959).