Douglas Milsome ASC BSC began his career at the BBC, joining the Film Unit at Ealing Studios in the 1950s. He progressed through the camera department, gaining experience as an assistant and operator before becoming a Director of Photography.
He became closely associated with cinematographer John Alcott and director Stanley Kubrick. Milsome worked as a focus puller on A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Barry Lyndon (1975), and subsequently as second-unit Director of Photography on The Shining (1980). His technical expertise, particularly with the demanding camera and lens requirements of Barry Lyndon, became an important part of his reputation.
Milsome also worked extensively as a camera operator on major productions. His credits included The Spy Who Loved Me, The Bounty, King David, Plenty, Highlander and The Beast of War. On King David, Plenty and Highlander, he operated main unit for cinematographers Donald McAlpine, Ian Baker and Gerry Fisher BSC respectively.
His first significant work as a cinematographer came with Wild Horses, followed by his most important collaboration with Kubrick, Full Metal Jacket (1987). After John Alcott's death in 1986, Kubrick asked Milsome to photograph the film. The production was shot largely in Britain, with Milsome creating the film's distinctive visual treatment of the Vietnam War.
Milsome subsequently established an extensive career as a Director of Photography. His feature credits included The Beast of War (1988), Hawks (1988), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Desperate Hours (1990), Body of Evidence (1993), The Sunchaser (1996), Breakdown (1997), Dungeons & Dragons (2000), The Hard Corps (2005), Second in Command (2006), Until Death (2007) and The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008). He also photographed the television miniseries Lonesome Dove, for which he received a Primetime Emmy nomination.
His career also included specialist and second-unit photography on major productions. Among these were The Shining, The Bounty, Treasure of the Yankee Zephyr, The Last of the Mohicans and A View to a Kill.
He is a member of both the British Society of Cinematographers and the American Society of Cinematographers.