Known For
Camera
Born
Apr 24, 1907
Died
Apr 27, 1997
Place of Birth
Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Credits
185 titles
Gabriel Figueroa
Biography
Gabriel Figueroa Mateos (April 24, 1907 – April 27, 1997) was a Mexican cinematographer who worked both in Mexican cinema and Hollywood. His mother died after giving birth to him. His father, unable to cope with the loss of his wife, left Gabriel and his brother Roberto to be cared for by their aunts. He studied painting at the Academia de San Carlos, and at the age of 16 he became interested in photography thanks to José Guadalupe Velasco. He later befriended other photographers, such as Gilberto Martínez Solares and Raúl Martínez Solares, and these three would then move on to cinematography. Figueroa made his entry in the movie industry in 1932 as a photographer of stills for the film Revolución of Miguel Contreras Torres. He was later one of the 20 cinematographers hired for the Howard Hawks film Viva Villa!. After a few jobs he obtained a scholarship to study in the United States where the established director of photography Gregg Toland taught Figueroa. Back in Mexico, his first film was Fernando de Fuentes's Allá en el Rancho Grande (1936) which would become one of the most popular films in Mexico and Latin America, and gave him his first award at the Venice Film Festival. He filmed 235 movies over 50 years, including Los Olvidados by Luis Buñuel, The Night of the Iguana by John Huston, The Fugitive by John Ford, and Río Escondido by Emilio Fernández. One of his main collaborators was Fernández, with whom he shot twenty films, some of which won prizes at the Venice Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, and the Berlin Film Festival. After collaborating with Fernández and Buñuel on their films with such actors as Dolores del Río, Pedro Armendáriz, María Félix, Jorge Negrete, Columba Domínguez, and Silvia Pinal, Figueroa has come to be regarded one of the most influential cinematographers active in México.
Known For
Filmography
The Hex 2: Messengers of Hell
Director of Photography
Notes from Under the Volcano
Self
Observations Under the Volcano
Self
Under the Volcano
Director of Photography
The Heart of the Night
Director of Photography
Mundo mágico
Director of Photography
El héroe desconocido
Director of Photography
Mexico 2000
Director of Photography
D.F./Distrito Federal
Director of Photography
The Border
Director of Photography
At a Lame Pace
Director of Photography
México de mis amores
Te quiero
Director of Photography
The House of the Pelican
Director of Photography
Los hijos de Sanchez
Cinematography
Cananea
Director of Photography
The Children of Sanchez
Director of Photography
Divine Words
Director of Photography
Balún Canán
Director of Photography
Maten al León
Director of Photography
Life Changes
Director of Photography
Coronation
Director of Photography
The Cry of the Turtle
Director of Photography
The Dogs of God
Director of Photography
Omen
Director of Photography
Once Upon a Scoundrel
Director of Photography
The Master of Ballantrae
Director of Photography
El amor tiene cara de mujer
Director of Photography
The Monastery of the Vultures
Director of Photography
Interval
Director of Photography
The She Wolf's Orgy
Director of Photography
The Children of Satan
Director of Photography
María
Director of Photography
El cielo y tú
Director of Photography
El profe
Director of Photography
La Generala
Director of Photography
Kelly's Heroes
Director of Photography
The Phantom Gunslinger
Director of Photography
Narda or The Summer
Director of Photography
Two Mules for Sister Sara
Director of Photography
The Door and the Butcher's Wife
Director of Photography
The Big Cube
Director of Photography
Pax?
Director of Photography
The Chinese Room
Director of Photography
Corazón salvaje
Director of Photography
Mariana
Director of Photography
The Scapular
Director of Photography
The Angels of Puebla
Director of Photography
El asesino se embarca
Director of Photography
Savage Sunday
Director of Photography