25 Movie Talents We Lost In 2016

Dear god, what a year. Not only did we suffer through Brexit, a Mexican-hating Oompa Loompa becoming the new POTUS and terrorism attacks taking place left, right and centre we also lost a sh*t-tonne of big film industry names too.

Who can say what the world of celebrity did to piss off the Grim Reaper in 2016, but the scythe-wielding bringer of death went into overdrive last year snatching some of our most beloved actors, directors and behind-the-scenes talents away. Sure, we have their work remaining, but we've been robbed of the opportunity to see more of their genius in most cases.

So in tribute to all those that have departed their mortal coil and gone to that big movie lot in the sky, we bring to you a round-up of film talents we lost in 2016 – a WhatCulture eulogy, if you will.

Kicking off the saddest year in recent memory, celebrated Hungarian-American cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond died on New Year’s Day last year.

Widely regarded as one of the most influential cinematographers in film history, Zsigmond first rose to prominence in the early 1970s while working on Robert Altman’s revisionist western McCabe & Mrs. Miller, backwoods thriller Deliverance and again with Altman on the psychological thriller Images, which helped scoop him a BAFTA nomination for Best Cinematography.

He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi Close Encounters of the Third Kind and eventually won a BAFTA for his work on Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter.

Zsigmond’s other notable films include comedy The Witches of Eastwick and neo-noir crime thriller The Black Dahlia and in 2014 he was recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award at Cannes Film Festival.