Leonard South, 92, Hitchcock’s Cameraman

Cinematographer Leonard South, the camera operator on nearly a dozen Alfred Hitchcock classics such as “North by Northwest” and “The Birds” and later the director of photography on Hitchcock’s “Family Plot,” died January 6 in Los Angeles. He was 92.South began his three-decade association with Hitchcock as cinematographer Robert Burks’ camera assistant on the 1951 film “Strangers on a Train.”Soon elevated to camera operator, South became part of what Hitchcock biographer Donald Spoto called “the ongoing Hitchcock crew who came to know exactly what the director wanted and how to give it to him.”In addition to “North by Northwest and “The Birds,” South worked on Hitchcock’s “Dial M for Murder,””Rear Window,” “To Catch a Thief,” “The Trouble With Harry,” “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” “Vertigo,” “Marnie” and “Torn Curtain.”During that time, South was the man behind the lens for many famous Hitchcock sequences, including Cary Grant evading a menacing crop-duster in “North by Northwest” and Tipi Hedren being attacked by a flock of crows in “The Birds.”“Hitch was always trying to push the limits on techniques and to be different,” South told the Los Angeles Times in 1987. “The crew and actors went along, but I tell you, those (crop-duster and bird) scenes were some of the hardest I’ve ever been involved in. They called for absolutely perfect timing in situations that were really rather scary.”For the attack scene in “The Birds,” bird handlers stood next to the camera, throwing crows at Hedren as she stood against a wall screaming.“We (the camera crew) were under a plastic-type covering,” South recalled. “The birds were trained for the scene, but a few still got out of hand and a lot of us, besides Tippi, got pecked and scratched.”South recalled that “people were scared of Hitch. He demanded absolute perfection. He ran everything exactly as he wanted it because he knew exactly what he was doing – planning every last shot, piece of decor and bit of dialogue.”And, South added, “It was all formality with him. He always wore a dark suit and tie on the set, even when we were shooting on location in the North African heat. He expected some of us, including Burks and me, to do likewise.”When Hitchcock wasn’t filming his movies, South worked on numerous pictures, including “Hondo,” “Houseboat,” “Teacher’s Pet,” and “The Cincinnati Kid.”After advancing to cinematographer in the mid-1960s, South was the director of photography on films such as the 1968 Clint Eastwood western “Hang ‘Em High” and the 1977 comedy “Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo.”As a cinematographer, South also worked on manyTV movies and series, including “That Girl,” “Night Gallery,” “The Rockford Files,” “9 to 5,” “Designing Women” and “Coach.”South re-teamed with Hitchcock as cinematographer for the legendary director’s final film, the 1976 comedy thriller “Family Plot.”Born on Long Island, N.Y. in 1913, South moved to Los Angeles in his early 20s. He launched his film career as a camera loader in the Warner Bros. special effects department in the early 1940s and made training films as a member of the Army Air Forces during World War II.South served as president of the American Society of Cinematographers, and was also a member of the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Leonard South, 92, Hitchcock’s Cameraman

Leonard South, 92, Hitchcock’s Cameraman

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