John Bailey Dies: ‘Ordinary People’ & ‘The Big Chill’ Cinematographer And Former Academy President Was 81
deadline.comJohn Bailey, the cinematographer whose credits including Oscar Best Picture-winning Ordinary People and The Big Chill and who became president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, died Friday in Los Angeles.
He was 81. ”It is with deep sadness I share with you that my best friend and husband, John Bailey, passed away peacefully in his sleep early this morning,” his wife Carol Littleton, an Oscar-nominated film editor and former Academy governor, said in a statement provided by AMPAS this evening. “During John’s illness, we reminisced how we met 60 years ago and were married for 51 of those years.
We shared a wonderful life of adventure in film and made many long-lasting friendships along the way. John will forever live in my heart.” In addition to Ordinary People, which was directed by Robert Redford and won four Oscars in 1981, Bailey’s resume included The Big Chill, Silverado, The Accidental Tourist, Groundhog Day, In the Line of Fire, As Good as It Gets, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Must Love Dogs across a five-decade career.
Bailey began his career as an assistant cameraman on the 1971 film Two Lane Blacktop. A member of the Academy’s Cinematographers Branch since 1981, Bailey served 15 years as an Academy governor and two terms as president from 2017-2019.
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