Robert Surtees (Aug 9, 1906 - Jan 5, 1985) was an American cinematographer who won Academy Awards three times, for the films King Solomon's Mines, The Bad and the Beautiful and Ben Hur. August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 1906 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... King Solomons Mines, first published in 1885, was a best-selling novel by the Victorian adventure writer and fabulist, H. Rider Haggard. ... The Bad and the Beautiful is a 1953 melodramatic film which tells the story of a film producer who alienates all of those around him. ... Ben-Hur is a 1959 film directed by William Wyler and is, today, the best-known version of the film based on the Ben-Hur book by Lew Wallace. ...

He began working in Hollywood as assistant cameraman to Gregg Toland in the late 1920's, before moving to Germany for several years, eventually returning to Hollywood. Gregg Toland (1904-1948) was an influential American cinematographer, most noted for his work on Orson Welles Citizen Kane. ...