Gilbert Taylor, the veteran British cinematographer behind classic films Star Wars, The Omen and Dr Strangelove and The Beatles A Hard Day's Night, has died, aged 99.

He passed away on Friday (23Aug13) at his home on the Isle of Wight.

Born in Hertfordshire in 1914, Taylor started his career in the late 1920s as a camera assistant at Gainsborough Studios in London and shot daring Royal Air Force raids over Germany during World War Ii at the request of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

His film credits also include Ice Cold in Alex, Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy and two movies with Roman Polanski, Repulsion and Cul-de-Sac, which earned him back-to-back BAFTA nominations.

He retired from filmmaking in 1994 to concentrate on his passion for painting but picked up a lifetime achievement award from the British Society of Cinematographers, an organisation he helped found, in 2001.