Oscar-Winning Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond Dies at 85

Vilmos Zsigmond, the Hungarian-born cinematographer who won an Oscar for 1977's Close Encounters Of The Third Kind has passed away in Big Sur, northern California, on Friday January from 'a combination of many illnesses,' according to his longtime business partner Yuri Neyman, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday. He was 85.

Yuri took to Facebook to reveal the news after he was notified by the cinematographer's wife.

Vilmos‘ resume also included The Deer Hunter, The River, The Black Dahlia, Deliverance, and many more films.

He also shot a reported 24 episodes of the once-Fox-but-now-Hulu series The Mindy Project from 2012-14. Mindy Kaling took to Twitter to express her condolences, ''Vilmos Zsigmond was a gentle genius. He taught me so much about how film could be art and I was lucky to work with him.''

Our prayers go out to Vilmos‘ family and friends at this difficult time