Adrian Biddle

Biddle was a talented swimmer in his youth, and because of that, the underwater photographer Egil Woxholt hired him to be his apprentice. Uncredited, he worked in this capacity on both the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and Murphy's War (1971).

After this, Biddle worked for Ridley Scott's advertising company "R.S.A.", shooting many commercials, and when Scott began working on films, Biddle followed him, working as a clapper loader on The Duellists (1977), and as a focus puller on Alien (1979).

He then returned working as a cinematographer on advertisements, where he developed some new lighting techniques and worked on several famous campaigns, most notably the 1984 ad for Apple, also directed by Scott.

The advert's photography, along with a personal recommendation from Scott, prompted James Cameron to hire Biddle for Aliens (1986), after the original cinematographer Dick Bush left over creative differences.^[1]

Biddle was a cinematographer on another 25 feature films, including Thelma & Louise (1991), which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

Biddle died at the age of 53 on December 7, 2005. His wife was driving him to shoot a commercial in Central London when he suffered a heart attack.^[2]

He was survived by his wife Mo and his three children, Alice, Esther and Alfie, who is also a cinematographer.^[3]

V for Vendetta, which he had finished filming, was dedicated to his memory.^[4]

Film

Television