About Tony Gaudio
Gaetano (Tony) Gaudio, A.S.C. (20 November 1883 – 10 August 1951) was a pioneer Italian-American cinematographer of more than 1000 films. Gaudio won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Anthony Adverse, becoming the first Italian to have won an Oscar, and was nominated five additional times for Hell's Angels, Juarez, The Letter, Corvette K-225, and A Song to Remember. He is cited as the first to have created a montage sequence for a film in The Mark of Zorro. He was among the founders of the American Society of Cinematographers, and served as president from 1924 until 1925. == Early life and education == Born Gaetano Antonio Gaudio in Cosenza, Italy in 1883 to a famous photographic family. The son of one of Italy’s foremost photographic artists, the boy was quite literally brought up in the studio, where he learned at an early age to use the still camera and to develop negatives in the darkroom. His father also gave him a liberal education in lenses, cameras, composition and the manipulation of lights so that when the time came to take up motion photography, the young Tony had a head full of useful information to start with. At two months old, Tony’s family moved from Cosenza to Rome for a short period in order for Tony to attend art school. He is indebted to his art training for his later interest in the camera as a medium of art, as opposed to a mere recording instrument. Tony was hardly nine years old when he began to play with photographic papers, making his own enlargements.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.