page_title: Robert Kurrle
section_title: Death
hierarchical_section_title: Robert Kurrle / Death
caption_attribution_description: English: Cinematographer Robert Kurrle in 1932 Other information http://mediahistoryproject.org/faq/#copyright for an explanation of the copyright http://mediahistoryproject.org/about-2/ for information regarding public domain
context_page_description: Robert Kurrle, also known as Robert B. Kurrle, was an American cinematographer during the silent and early talking film eras. Prior to entering the film industry, he was already experimenting with aerial photography. Considered a very prominent cinematographer, even his early work received notice and praise from both critics and other industry professionals. The advent of sound film did not abate his continued rise, and he became the top director of photography at Warner Brothers by 1932.
  He shot 70 films over the sixteen years of his career, working with such prominent directors as William Wellman, Raoul Walsh, Michael Curtiz, Archie Mayo, and William Dieterle. He was a member of the American Society of Cinematographers by 1921, and he was also one of the inaugural members of the International Photographers branch of I.A.T.S.E. In October 1932, at the height of his career, he suddenly fell ill after wrapping a film. Hospitalized, his condition quickly worsened and within a week he was dead of an infection to the brain.
context_section_description: Following the completion of his work on Lawyer Man, he went to the hospital for treatment of a persistent cold.  This developed into a sinus infection, which further worsened into an infection in his brain. He remained in the hospital for over a week, fighting the infection, but eventually died from it. His death at the age of 42 on October 27, 1932, shocked the film industry. Later it was reported that the infection was meningitis. The last two films he worked on were released posthumously. Upon his death, American Cinematographer said, "The Motion Picture Industry lost one of its greatest cinematographers and finest gentlemen ..."
  His memorial service was held at The Little Church of the Flowers in Glendale, California, after which he was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, also in Glendale.
caption: Kurlle in 1932
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