Two top cinematographers were hired to work on "Birdman of Alcatraz"; Burnett Guffey, who had won an Oscar in 1954 for his work on "From Here to Eternity" and had been nominated in 1957 for "The Harder They Fall", and John Alton, who had worked with Lancaster on "Elmer Gantry" but was most known for the iconic film noir, "The Big Combo". With Lancaster in the lead, the rest of the cast featured Karl Malden, a two-time Oscar nominee, once for "A Streetcar Named Desire", another for "On the Waterfront", Thelma Ritter, a five-time Oscar nominee, Telly Savalas, Neville Brand, Edmond O'Brien, an Oscar winner for "The Barefoot Contessa" who had appeared in Lancaster's first film, "The Killers" in 1946, Hugh Marlowe, who had appeared in "Elmer Gantry" and Whit Bissell, who had appeared in two other Lancaster films, "Brute Force" and "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" as well as in Frankenheimer's "The Young Stranger". The film also features an uncredited bit part by Len Lesser, who in the 1990s gained fame as Uncle Leo in "Seinfeld". Elmer Bernstein returned to compose the soundtrack, his second collaboration with Hecht after his triumph on "Sweet Smell of Success".