Oscar-nominated cinematographer Arthur Ibbetson's career took off in 1935 when he took a job as a child actor at a Borehamwood studio.

A director at the Rock Studios was looking for a cheeky young boy with curly hair to act in his film, and chose 13-year-old Arthur.

Nobody could have known that, years later, Arthur's imagination and talent would help to make films such as Moby Dick, Where Eagles Dare and The Railway Children into classics.

The Ibbetson family moved to Borehamwood in the 1930s, looking for work. Arthur's father Norman had already moved to a house in Drayton Road.

While the wages were better than anything on offer in the north of England, Arthur and his older brother Tommy missed their home town, Redcar in Yorkshire, and hitch-hiked back home.

But their father was making good money as a driver in Borehamwood, and the boys decided to come back. They soon found part-time jobs at the town's flourishing film studios.

When Arthur finished at Furzehill School he took jobs as a runner for Metropolitan Productions, and as a clapper boy at the Rock Studios, now the Bbc Elstree Centre.

Among others, he worked with cinematographer Skeets Kelly, who made films such as The Edge of the World at the Rock Studios in the late 1930s, and helped to teach Arthur his trade.

Arthur learned how to be a cinematographer deciding how to use camera angles and movements with creative lighting to make interesting shots. He also gained a reputation as a hard-working, reliable crew member.

"In those days you didn't get a regular job at the studios, but once you got established they took you as part of a crew," said Arthur's brother Tommy.

When the Second World War broke out Arthur was enlisted and trained as a pilot, but he was sent home after a few months when a medical examination revealed he was missing a kidney.

His career at the studios flourished, and in 1942 he married a girl from Bournemouth, Norah, and moved to a house in Park Royal, west London.

He often worked at the various studios in Borehamwood, alongside the rest of his family, all of whom worked in the film industry.

Arthur's mother, Teresa, was a cashier at the Rock Studios canteen. His father Norman and brother Tommy were props men.

His sister Bernadette worked as a studio hairdresser, and his other sister Angela worked in the cutting room, and married camera operator Peter Talbot.

Arthur made his his first feature film as a camera operator, The Belles of St Trinians, in 1951, and his first as a cinematographer, The Horse's Mouth, in 1958.

In 1964 he was nominated for a Best Cinematography BAFTA for Nine Hours to Rama, a film about Gandhi he shot in Delhi with his brother Tommy.

He was nominated for another BAFTA in 1965 for The Chalk Garden, and his work on the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days was nominated for an Academy Award (Oscar).

Arthur enjoyed working with stars such as Sir Alec Guinness and Sophia Loren, but was not impressed with Judy Garland, who insisted on only one side of her face being filmed, and was constantly complaining about lighting when she made I Could Go On Singing in 1963.

He had four children, Paul, Julie, Angela and Clare, and enjoyed making family movies such as The Railway Children and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1984 he made The Bounty with Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins and Laurence Olivier, and the British Society of Cinematographers nominated his work for another award.

He retired in 1985 after making Santa Claus The Movie, and died in 1997, leaving behind his four children and wife of 55 years, Norah.