Lawrence W. Butler
Lawrence W. Butler (born July 30, 1908 in Akron , Ohio - † October 19, 1988 ) was an American film technician who received both an Oscar for the best special effects and a so-called Oscar for technical achievement ( Technical Achievement Award ) .
Life
Butler began as a film technician and specialist in special effects in the film industry in the mid-1930s and worked with Alexander Korda in England prior to World War II , such as in 1936 on What's To Come . In the course of his activity he has contributed to the production of more than 40 films.
At the Academy Awards in 1941 , he and Jack Whitney received the Oscar for best special effects for The Thief of Baghdad (1940).
This was followed by other Oscar nominations in this category: in 1942 with William H. Wilmarth for Lord Nelson's Last Love (1941), in 1943 again with W. Wilmarth for The Jungle Book (1942) and in 1946 with Ray Bomba for 1001 Nights (1945).
After World War II, he became director of special effects at Columbia Pictures, and at the 1976 Academy Awards, along with Roger Banks, received the Technical Achievement Award for “the concept of using low-inertia electric motors in film transport systems and optical printers for film production ”.
Other films in which he was involved as a special effects artist were Casablanca (1942) , To be or not to be (1942), Destiny Tokyo (1943) and The Caine was her fate (1954). Besides Alexander Korda, he worked with film directors such as Michael Curtiz , Ernst Lubitsch , Edward Dmytryk , Tim Whelan , Ludwig Berger , Michael Powell , Zoltan Korda , Delmer Daves and Alfred E. Green .
His son is the cameraman Michael Butler, born in Los Angeles in 1945 .
Web links
- Lawrence W. Butler in the Internet Movie Database (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Butler, Lawrence W. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American film technician and special effects artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 30, 1908 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Akron , Ohio |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 19, 1988 |