Caleb Deschanel

Caleb Deschanel
Caleb Deschanel, 2009 in San Diego
Born	Joseph Caleb Deschanel (1944-09-21) September 21, 1944 (age 81) [1] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education	Johns Hopkins University USC School of Cinematic Arts AFI Conservatory
Occupations	Cinematographer, film director
Years active	1969–present
Spouse	Mary Jo Weir ​ (m. 1972)​
Children	Emily Deschanel Zooey Deschanel
Awards	See below

Deschanel on the set of The Spiderwick Chronicles , April 2007

Joseph Caleb Deschanel (born September 21, 1944) ^[1] is an American cinematographer and director of film and television. ^[1] He has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography six times. ^[2] He is also a member of the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, representing the American Society of Cinematographers. ^[3]

He has been married to actress Mary Jo Deschanel since 1972, with whom he has two daughters, actresses Emily and Zooey Deschanel.

Early life and professional education

Deschanel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Ann Ward (née Orr) and Paul Jules Deschanel. His father was French, from Oullins, Rhône, and his mother was American. ^[4] Deschanel was raised in his mother's Quaker religion. ^[5]

He enrolled^{[ when? ]} in Severn School for his high school. ^[6] He attended Johns Hopkins University from 1962 to 1966, ^{[7] [8]} where he met Walter Murch, ^[9] with whom he staged "happenings," including one in which Murch sat down and ate an apple for an audience.^{[ citation needed ]} Murch graduated a year ahead of him and encouraged Deschanel to follow him to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where he graduated in 1968. During this time, Deschanel was a member of a band of film students called "The Dirty Dozen;" this group attracted attention from the Hollywood system. Following his graduation, he attended the American Film Institute (AFI) Conservatory and graduated in 1969 as a member of its first class. ^{[10] [8]}

Personal life

Deschanel joined the American Society of Cinematographers (A.S.C.) in 1969, the year of his graduation from the AFI Conservatory. In 1972, three years later, he married actress Mary Jo Weir. ^[11] They have two daughters, actresses Emily and Zooey.

Filmography

As director

Film

• The Escape Artist (1982)
• Crusoe (1988)

Music video

• Rhythm of My Heart (1991) for Rod Stewart

Television

Year	Title	Episode(s)
1990-91	Twin Peaks	"Realization Time"
		"Drive with a Dead Girl"
		"The Black Widow"
2005	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	"41 Shots"
		"Bang & Blame"
		"Day"
2006	Conviction	"Savasana"
		"Madness"
2007	Bones	"The Glowing Bones in the Old Stone House"

As cinematographer

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1979	Being There	Hal Ashby
	More American Graffiti	Bill L. Norton
	The Black Stallion	Carroll Ballard
1982	Let's Spend the Night Together	Hal Ashby
1983	The Right Stuff	Philip Kaufman
1984	The Natural	Barry Levinson
1985	The Slugger's Wife	Hal Ashby
1994	It Could Happen to You	Andrew Bergman
1996	Fly Away Home	Carroll Ballard
1998	Hope Floats	Forest Whitaker
1999	Anna and the King	Andy Tennant
	Message in a Bottle	Luis Mandoki
2000	The Patriot	Roland Emmerich
2003	The Hunted	William Friedkin
	Timeline	Richard Donner
2004	National Treasure	Jon Turteltaub
	The Passion of the Christ	Mel Gibson
2006	Ask the Dust	Robert Towne
2008	Killshot	John Madden
	The Spiderwick Chronicles	Mark Waters
2009	My Sister's Keeper	Nick Cassavetes
2011	Dream House	Jim Sheridan
	Killer Joe	William Friedkin
2012	Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter	Timur Bekmambetov
	Jack Reacher	Christopher McQuarrie
2014	Winter's Tale	Akiva Goldsman
2016	Rules Don't Apply	Warren Beatty
2017	Unforgettable	Denise Di Novi
2018	Never Look Away	Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
2019	The Lion King	Jon Favreau
2026	Wildwood	Travis Knight	Post-production [12]

Other credits

Year	Title	Director	Cinematographer(s)	Contribution	Notes
1971	Angels Hard as They Come	Joe Viola	Stephen M. Katz	Additional photography
	THX 1138	George Lucas	David Myers Albert Kihn		Uncredited
1972	The Godfather	Francis Ford Coppola	Gordon Willis	Director of photography: Newspaper sequence
1974	A Woman Under the Influence	John Cassavetes	Mitch Breit Al Ruban	Additional photography
1979	Apocalypse Now	Francis Ford Coppola	Vittorio Storaro	Director of photography: Inserts
1983	The Black Stallion Returns	Robert Dalva	Carlo Di Palma	Additional photography
1997	Titanic	James Cameron	Russell Carpenter	Director of photography: Halifax contemporary sequences
2013	Gangster Squad	Ruben Fleischer	Dion Beebe	Additional photography
2019	Ad Astra	James Gray	Hoyte van Hoytema

Awards and nominations

Institution	Year	Category	Work	Result
Academy Awards	1983	Best Cinematography	The Right Stuff	Nominated
	1984		The Natural	Nominated
	1996		Fly Away Home	Nominated
	2000		The Patriot	Nominated
	2004		The Passion of the Christ	Nominated
	2018		Never Look Away	Nominated
American Society of Cinematographers	1996	Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography	Fly Away Home	Nominated
	2000		The Patriot	Won
	2004		The Passion of the Christ	Nominated
Berlin International Film Festival	1976	Best Short Film	Trains	Won
British Academy Film Awards	1979	Best Cinematography	The Black Stallion	Nominated
British Society of Cinematographers	1980	Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film		Nominated
Camerimage Festival	2014	Lifetime Achievement Award	—	Won
	2019	Golden Frog	Never Look Away	Nominated
Hawaiʻi International Film Festival	2001	Excellence in Cinematography Award	—	Won
Hollywood Film Awards	2004	Cinematographer of the Year	The Passion of the Christ	Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association	1979	Best Cinematography	The Black Stallion	Won
National Board of Review	2004	Career Achievement Award	—	Won
National Society of Film Critics	1979	Best Cinematography	Being There	Won
			The Black Stallion	Won
Satellite Awards	1999	Best Cinematography	Anna and the King	Nominated
Visual Effects Society	2020	Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project	The Lion King	Won

References

1. "Caleb Deschanel". Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers. Retrieved June 26, 2018.{{cite web}}: |archive-url= requires |archive-date= (help)
2. "Caleb Deschanel". Oscars Awards Databases. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
3. "National Film Preservation Board Members". Library of Congress.
4. Powell, Kimberly (November 1, 2011). "Ancestry of Emily and Zooey Deschanel". ThoughtCo . Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
5. Olsen, Mark (February 27, 2005). "A passion to convey a director's vision". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved October 14, 2010.
6. "David Astle Memorial Lecture". Severn School. April 4, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
7. "Notable Alumni". Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
8. "Deschanel to Receive AFI's Schaffner Medal June 4". The American Society of Cinematographers. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
9. "The late composer behind 'RoboCop,' 'Conan the Barbarian' gets his due at Disney Hall". Los Angeles Times. July 21, 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
10. King, Susan (September 18, 2019). "At 50, the AFI Conservatory keeps its focus on developing great filmmakers". Los Angeles Times.
11. "American Film". American Film . Vol. 9, no. 1–10. American Film Institute (AFI). 1983. p. 10. ISSN   0361-4751.
12. Giardina, Carolyn (September 15, 2021). "Travis Knight Directing LAIKA's Next Movie, 'Wildwood'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 12, 2025.

External links

• Caleb Deschanel at IMDb