In the largely anonymous brotherhood of Hollywood that resides behind the camera, Haskell Wexler has become one of the few cinematographers that the movie fan recognizes by name. His groundbreaking work on Hollywood's biggest films made his name, while his dedication to independent, documentary and political projects assures his legacy.

His career began in the '50s, working on educational and industrial films. Breaking into features, he lensed the low-budget, documentary-style The Savage Eye (1960) and the gritty drama Hoodlum Priest (1961). It didn't take long to turn in his first great work of cinematography, for Elia Kazan's America, America (1963). His developing eye captured the landscape of the country as the new immigrant sees it, with the breathtaking beauty and intolerant horror rendered vividly.

1965 saw his first stab at directing, with the documentary The Bus. In exploring the stories of the passengers on a trip from San Francisco to march on Washington, Wexler exposed a liberal political sensibility that would resurface in his personal work.

His next film as cinematographer also won him his first Oscar. The crisp, black & white imagery of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) brought a bracing immediacy to the intense performances, while the frame expressed their claustrophobia and mutual isolation. The remarkable output of Wexler's first decade in features also includes The Loved One (1965), In the Heat of the Night (1967) and The Thomas Crown Affair (1968).

1969 brought arguably Wexler's greatest achievement, when he produced, wrote, shot and directed Medium Cool, a passionate work that preaches (and exploits) the political power of the media. Though the film was scripted, Wexler anticipated the violent turn of the 1968 Democratic Convention, and incorporated cinema-verite footage of his actors within the turmoil.

Continuing to break new ground, Wexler is acknowledged to be the first cinematogra-pher to use a Steadicam in a feature, for Bound for Glory (1976). One incredible moment was achieved with a high crane shot that moved down to the earth; the Steadicam operator then stepped off to follow the action on the ground in a breathtaking uninterrupted shot. This innovative work, coupled with his stunning invocation of the dust-bowl era, won Wexler his second Oscar.

More mainstream acclaim arrived for Coming Home (1978) and his Oscar-nominated work on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). But the Seventies also saw Wexler working on more personal films. He lensed the Oscar-winning short Interviews with My Lai Veterans (1970), and continuted to delve into the political with Brazil: A Report on Torture (1971) and Introduction to the Enemy (1974), with Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden.

1985 saw the release of Latino, his first feature as director since Medium Cool. During the heart of the Reagan era, Wexler made an unabashedly pro-Sandinista war film that pre-dictably divided audiences along political lines.

The big names kept calling, however, and Wexler continued to work with the best. Directors as diverse as Blake Edwards, Dennis Hopper, Frank Zappa and Michael Moore have used his eye on their movies. Wexler has also been a regular for Hal Ashby and, starting with his Oscar-nominated work on Matewan (1987), John Sayles.

Ron Shelton's Blaze (1989) provided Wexler with his latest Oscar nomination, and just recently, his cinematography on Billy Crystal's 61* (2001) earned him an Emmy nod, his first. His directing career has also come full circle, with Bus Rider's Union (1999), a chronicle of Los Angeles's woeful public transportation system and the workers who suffer within it.

His efforts have also been amply rewarded. He was the first cinematographer to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 1992 was the recipient of the American Society of Cinematographers' Lifetime Acheivement Award. Never content to rely on the established rules of filmmaking, never afraid to make his beliefs heard, Haskell Wexler is an important maverick who has consistently challenged the status quo and opened millions of eyes to the power of cinema.    - David Gorgos