RIP, Nicolas Roeg

Director of “The Man Who Fell To Earth,” much of which was filmed in New Mexico:

Roeg began his film career in 1947 when he landed a job in an editing room after being discharged from the British army. After becoming a camera operator and then a cinematographer, he worked on the second unit of David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962) but was later reportedly fired by Lean as cinematographer for “Doctor Zhivago” (1965).

He would go on to make a name for himself as a cinematographer, shooting such notable films as Francois Truffaut’s “Fahrenheit 451” (1966), John Schlesinger’s “Far From the Madding Crowd” (1967) and Richard Lester’s “Petulia” (1968).

His first film as a director, co-directed with Donald Cammell, was “Performance” (1970), starring Mick Jagger and James Fox, in a psychedelic story of identity and sexuality focused on a rock star and a gangster.

From there he made “Walkabout” (1971) and “Don’t Look Now” (1973), starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. “Don’t Look Now,” an adaptation of a short story by Daphne du Maurier about a couple dealing with the aftermath of the death of their young daughter, earned a BAFTA Awards nomination for best film and Roeg a nomination for direction. The movie has repeatedly been named the best British film of all time in a poll of critics and industry professionals by Time Out London.