Cardiff, who as a cinematographer was known as a pioneer of Technicolor and a “master of light," died Wednesday of age-related causes at his home in Ely, England, said Craig McCall, the producer and director of a pending documentary on Cardiff.
“Jack was a great ambassador to film," McCall said. “He loved it; it was his entire life and almost all the great people that we can mention crossed paths with him."
Cardiff began as a child actor in silent movies and continued to remain professionally active until about three years ago, McCall said.
“He literally almost worked for 90 years, which is quite extraordinary in an industry that is just over a hundred years old."
Once described by British director Michael Powell as “the greatest color cameraman in the world," Cardiff was the cinematographer on films such as “The Red Shoes," “The African Queen," “The Barefoot Contessa," “Under Capricorn," “The Black Rose," “The Magic Box," “The Prince and the Showgirl" and “The Vikings."
Among his later credits are “Death on the Nile," “Conan the Destroyer" and “Rambo: First Blood Part II."
In addition to his Oscar win for “Black Narcissus" -- the Powell and Emeric Pressburger- directed movie starring Deborah Kerr about a group of nuns who establish a remote mission in the Himalayas -- Cardiff earned Oscar nominations for his cinematography in 1957 for “War and Peace" and in 1962 for “Fanny."
“He photographed several of the most beautiful Technicolor movies ever made," film critic and historian Leonard Maltin told The Times on Wednesday. “I think 'Black Narcissus' is breathtaking, and that's the one that always stands out in my mind."
But it was for his long career as a cinematographer that Cardiff remains best known, with Powell and Pressburger's 1948 ballet drama “The Red Shoes" considered by many to be his greatest artistic achievement.
