Background
Glennon was born in Anaconda, Montana, and attended Stanford University, California, where he graduated in 1912.
Glennon was born in Anaconda, Montana, and attended Stanford University, California, where he graduated in 1912.
Stanford University.
He directed the first film released by Radio-Keith-Orpheum Radio Pictures. Before gaining fame in Hollywood, Glennon served as a pursuit pilot instructor during World War I. He began his work in film in 1912 as a stage manager for theater entrepreneur Oliver Morosco and then c. 1913 worked for Keystone and Famous Players, then was laboratory superintendent for Clune Film Corporation, for four years.
In 1915 he did his first film as cinematographer, The Stingaree (serial) and in 1928 he directed his first film, The Perfect Crime.
He was nominated for three Academy Awards in Best Cinematography for the films Stagecoach (1939), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), and Dive Bomber (1941). Glennon worked as a cinematographer on over a hundred films for directors including John Ford, André De Toth, Josef Von Sternberg, Raoul Walsh, and Cecil B. DeMille.