French cameraman Renoir dead at 79

CLAUDE Renoir, a movie cameraman and director of photography who was a grandson of Impressionist painter Pierre Auguste Renoir, has died in Troyes, France, 90 kilometres east of Paris. He was 79.

Critics praised Renoir's skill in using colour and in depicting countrysides. He was a nephew of film director Jean Renoir and of another Claude Renoir, who produced some of Jean Renoir's movies and died in 1969.

The movies that cameraman Claude Renoir filmed include The River, by Jean Renoir, which was set in India and won critical praise.

Box-office hits he photographed included Barbarella, which starred Jane Fonda, The French Connection II and the James Bond Movie, The Spy Who Loved Me.

He died on September 5.