Robert Paynter

Robert Paynter (b. 1928) is a British cinematographer who worked particularly closely with directors Michael Winner and John Landis. He served as director of photography on The Muppets Take Manhattan, and worked with Frank Oz again on Little Shop of Horrors.

Paynter began his film career in the 1950s, on documentary shorts about British industry. He first teamed with Winner in 1969, on Hannibal Brooks, and remained with the director on nine more movies, including the 1979 remake of The Big Sleep. With John Landis, Paynter worked on An American Werewolf in London, the Michael Jackson music video Thriller, and Trading Places. He also appeared on-camera in two films which he photographed for Landis, as one of several filmmakers and technicians making cameo appearances: Into the Night (which Jim Henson also cameoed in, as a security guard) and Spies Like Us (as Dr. Gill).