L. B. Abbott

Lenwood Ballard "Bill" Abbott, A.S.C. (June 13, 1908 – September 28, 1985) was an American special effects expert, cinematographer and cameraman.

He became the head of the Special Effects Department at 20th Century Fox in 1957, a post he held until retirement in 1970. He was called out of retirement, however, to work on the TV series M*A*S*H in 1972 (Abbott had worked on the film on which the series was based). Abbott was a member of the American Society of Cinematographers.

Academy Awards:

• Special Visual Effects for Doctor Dolittle (1967)
• Special Visual Effects for Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
• Special Achievement Award (Visual Effects) for The Poseidon Adventure (1972), with A. D. Flowers
• Special Visual Effects for Logan's Run (1976), with Glen Robinson and Matthew Yuricich

Academy Award nominations:

• Special Effects for Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959): Abbott (visual), James B. Gordon (visual) and Carlton W. Faulkner (audible)

• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
• The Enemy Below (1957)
• Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)
• The Sound of Music (1965)
• Fantastic Voyage (1966)
• Doctor Dolittle (1967)
• Planet of the Apes (1968)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
• Patton (1970)
• The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
• The Towering Inferno (1974)
• Logan's Run (1976)
• The Swarm (1978)
• When Time Ran Out (1980)

• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964–1968)
• Lost in Space (1965–1968)
• The Time Tunnel (1966–1967)
• M*A*S*H (1972)