"Who?" wondered many American filmgoers when cinematographer Michael Ballhaus picked up his Academy Award for 1989's The Fabulous Baker Boys. German movie buffs would have known better; the Berlin-born Ballhaus had been active in the German film industry since 1970. Ballhaus was best known for his collaborations with the hyperkinetic director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, notably Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven (1974) and The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979). The editors of TV Guide thought enough of Ballhaus to make special mention of his photography for the 1985 TV movie Death of a Salesman, directed by another highly regarded European talent, Volker Schlondorff. American directors who have benefited from the expertise of Ballhaus have included Francis Ford Coppola (Bram Stoker's Dracula [1993]) and Martin Scorsese (The Age of Innocence [1993]).