Joseph F. Biroc

Joseph Francis Biroc, ASC (February 12, 1903 – September 7, 1996) was an American cinematographer. He was born in New York City and began working in films at the Paragon Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey. After working there for approximately six years, he moved to Los Angeles. Once in Southern California, Biroc worked at the RKO Pictures movie studio. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and filmed the Liberation of Paris in August 1944. In 1950, Biroc left RKO Pictures and freelanced on projects at various studios. He frequently collaborated with director Robert Aldrich.

In addition to his film work, which included It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), Biroc worked on various television series, including the Adventures of Superman.

Biroc won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for The Towering Inferno (1974), which he shared with Fred J. Koenekamp, with a previous nomination for Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). He also won two Primetime Emmy Awards, one for the TV movie Brian's Song and one for the series Casablanca. In 1988, he received the American Society of Cinematographers' Lifetime Achievement Award for his body of work.