Derek Vanlint, the Canadian director of photography known from Los Angeles to London for shooting Ridley Scott’s classic 1979 sci-fi horror movie Alien, passed away at the end of February in Toronto, aged 77.

‘Derek was truly an icon – his talent and passion for the craft of cinematography knew no boundaries,’ Dora Sesler, Vanlint’s longtime Toronto agent, said in a statement.

Besides lensing Scott’s visually acclaimed Alien, Vanlint also illuminated the 1981 fantasy adventure Dragonslayer for director Matthew Robbins and Paramount Pictures, and directed the 2000 Dennis Hopper-starrer The Spreading Ground.

A longtime member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, Vanlint was also head of the Toronto commercial production house Derek Van Lint and Associates, a mainstay of the Canadian commercial industry in the 1990s.

He personally lensed commercial spots throughout the world for top-drawer clients like British Airways, Guinness, Levis and Pepsi.

Vanlint was honored by Scott at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival with a screening of the director’s cut for Alien before its theatrical re-release that year.