Born in Los Angeles, CA. Made his debut as a cinematographer on Robert Altman's BREWSTER MCCLOUD (1970) after working as a camera operator or second camera (usually uncredited) on such features as INCUBUS (1965), HARPER and THE PROFESSIONALS (both 1966), IN COLD BLOOD (1967), HELL IN THE PACIFIC (1969) and THE LIBERATION OF L.B. JONES (1970). Cronenweth tended to work on independent or non-mainstream productions such as Frank Perry's PLAY IT AS IT LAYS (1972), Ken Russell's ALTERED STATES (1980), Ivan Passer's CUTTER'S WAY (1981) and films by Jonathan Demme, Francis Coppola and Phil Joanou. Other notable credits include THE FRONT PAGE (1974), GABLE AND LOMBARD (1976), ROLLING THUNDER (1977), BLADE RUNNER and BEST FRIENDS (both 1982), STOP MAKING SENSE (1984), JUST BETWEEN FRIENDS (1986), GARDENS OF STONE (1987), U2: RATTLE AND HUM (1988), STATE OF GRACE (1990), GET BACK (1991) and FINAL ANALYSIS (1992). Cronenweth was the original cinematographer for ALIEN3 (1992), but he was replaced (less than two weeks into the shoot) with Alex Thomson because his slow shooting pace irked studio executives at Twentieth-Century Fox. He died in Los Angeles from Parkinson's disease. Director of photography Jeff Cronenweth is his son.  Nominated for Cinematography 1986: PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED 1 nomination