He is sometimes credited as Denys N. Coop. Denys was a past president of the British Society of Cinematographers. He began his career in the cinema as apprentice to Freddie Young.
In the 1960s he was Director of Photography on films such as A Kind of Loving (1962), This Sporting Life (1963), Billy Liar (1963) and Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965).
In 1979, he was one of a team of artists to win a special Oscar for visual effects in Superman. In addition to the Oscar, Deny's was also awarded a Bafta (the Michael Balcon award) for his work on Superman (as Creative Director of Process Photography). He was also awarded the Bert Easey award by the British Society of Cinematographers. He was nominated for the Best Cinematography (B&W) Bafta in 1964 for "Billy Liar", in 1965 for "King and Country", and in 1967 for "Bunny Lake is Missing". His black and white cinematography on films such as these, and "This Sporting Life" amongst others earned him the reputation as one of the finest B&W cinematographers of his generation.
British Society of Cinematographers.
