Born Wong Tung Jim in Canton, China (now Guangzhou, China). In the US from 1904, Howe worked his way up from the position of janitor at the Lasky Studios in 1917 to become one of the greatest, and most prolific, Hollywood cinematographers of all time. The list of directors with whom he worked reads like a history of American cinema, stretching from Victor Fleming and Allan Dwan in the 1920s to Sidney Lumet and John Frankenheimer in the 60s, with a number of landmark figures in between. Nicknamed "Low Key Howe" for his unadorned style, Howe pioneered the use of deep focus photography and of the hand-held camera; for Robert Rossen's matador feature THE BRAVE BULLS (1951), he strapped cameras to the actors' waists to capture an unprecedented perspective on the action. Some notable credits include 1923: TO THE LAST MAN 1924: PETER PAN 1925: THE KING ON MAIN STREET 1926: MANTRAP 1928: LAUGH, CLOWN, LAUGH 1931: THE CRIMINAL CODE 1932: CHANDU THE MAGICIAN 1934: MANHATTAN MELODRAMA and THE THIN MAN 1935: MARK OF THE VAMPIRE 1937: FIRE OVER ENGLAND and THE PRISONER OF ZENDA 1938: ALGIERS (Oscar-nominated); 1940: ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS 1942: YANKEE DOODLE DANDY and KINGS ROW (Oscar-nominated); 1943: AIR FORCE (Oscar-nominated, as co-cinematographer), THE NORTH STAR (Oscar-nominated); 1947: BODY AND SOUL 1948: MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE 1955: PICNIC 1958: THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA (Oscarnominated); 1968: THE HEART IS THE LONELY HUNGER 1970: THE MOLLY McGUIRES 1975: FUNNY LADY (Oscar-nominated). Howe won Oscars for his work on 1955's THE ROSE TATTOO and 1963's HUD his work on the unsettling 1966 thriller SECONDS was black-and-white cinematography at its finest. Howe also directed several films and TV shows and formed three production companies during his career. One of his few forays in directing was the 1954 feature GO, MAN, GO! the story of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. Howe's work remained innovative and contemporary right to the end. He was married to novelist Sanora Babb. His cousin was actress Anna May Wong.

Nominated for Cinematography 1938: ALGIERS  Nominated for Cinematography (Black and White) 1940: ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS  Nominated for Cinematography (Black and White) 1942: KINGS ROW  Nominated for Cinematography (Black and White) 1943: THE NORTH STAR  Nominated for Cinematography (Black and White) 1943: AIR FORCE (w. Elmer Dyer & Charles Marshall)  Cinematography (Black and White) 1955: THE ROSE TATTOO  Nominated for Cinematography (Color) 1958: THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA  Cinematography (Black and White) 1963: HUD  Nominated for Cinematography (Black and White) 1966: SECONDS  Nominated for Cinematography 1975: FUNNY LADY 10 nominations, 2 Awards