OSCAR-winning British cinematographer Oswald Morris – who worked with celebrated directors John Huston and Stanley Kubrick – died on March 17, aged 98.

During his career Mr Morris won an Academy Award for the 1971 musical Fiddler on the Roof, was nominated for two others, and also won four Baftas.

His death – at home in Fontmell Magna– was announced by the British Society of Cinematographers, of which he was a founding member and former president.

In a statement, the society said the death of ‘Ossie’, as he was affectionately known, was a great loss.

“Ossie will be sorely missed by those in the industry, a delightful man, inspired by Ronald Neame and Guy Green, who in turn has himself been an inspiration to a new generation of cinematographers,” the society said.

Mr Morris was born on November 22, 1915, in Hillingdon, Middlesex, where he was educated at Bishopshalt School.

The dedicated film fan worked as a cinema projectionist during his school holidays, before entering the industry in 1932 as a runner and clapper boy at Wembley Studios.

By 1938, he had progressed to camera operator before his career was delayed by the Second World War, during which he served as an RAF bomber pilot, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross.

Later, he transported Field Marshall Viscount Alanbrooke to the Yalta Conference, and was awarded the Air Force Cross.

Following the war, Mr Morris returned to cinema, and in 1949 he gained his first screen credit as Director of Photography on the thriller Golden Salamander.

In all, he photographed nearly 60 movies with many of the stars of Hollywood's golden age, including Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Sean Connery.

His films include David Lean’s adaptation of Oliver Twist, Huston’s Moulin Rouge and The Man Who Would Be King, the Kubrick film Lolita, John le Carré adaptation The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, The Guns of Navarone and 1974 Bond outing The Man with the Golden Gun.

Mr Morris was awarded a Bafta fellowship in 1997 and received the British Society of Cinematographers' Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

He moved to Dorset after falling in love with the county while making several of his films, including Sleuth at Athelhampton House near Dorchester, and the musical version of Goodbye Mr Chips, filmed in Sherborne.

He became patron of the Wimborne Minster Ciné and Video Club, where he hosted talks and workshops, and was widely respected for his wealth of filmmaking experience.

In 2006 he published his memoirs ‘Huston, We Have a Problem’.

Mr Morris is survived by his three children, Gillian, Christine and Roger.