Tom Stobart

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Thomas Ralph Stobart , known as Tom Stobart , (* 1914 in England ; † 1980 in Hassocks , Sussex , England) was a mountaineer, cameraman, director, author and expert on herbs and spices.

Life

Thomas Ralph Stobart was the son of Athole Olive Aileen Bowden and Ralph Forrester Stobart. He studied at Sheffield and Cambridge Universities and graduated with a B.Sc. in zoology . He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire ). As early as 1941 he directed a documentary film unit for the British Army in India. In 1951 he filmed in Antarctica and in 1953 in Africa. He became particularly famous for his participation in Sir Edmund Hillary's Mount Everest expedition in 1953. He was the chief cameraman and shot the film. Due to pneumonia, he was unable to cope with the higher altitudes. George Lowe closed this gap with his photography. The following year he returned to the Himalayas to film with Tensing Norgay . In 1956, Stobart suffered several gunshot wounds while filming in Ethiopia, which left him permanently disabled. Nevertheless, he stayed in the film business until 1979. His last work as a director is a comedy about animal traffickers stealing monkeys in India. During his travels around the world, Stobart became interested in the native plants and studied their use in local cuisine. This resulted in his books on international food ingredients and spices.

Tom Stobart died in 1980 in a small English train station, allegedly as a result of gunshot wounds sustained in Ethiopia.

Filmography

Stobart initially worked as a cameraman, later as a screenwriter and director. Occasionally he also appeared as an actor. He showed his special achievement as a documentary filmmaker by dispensing with poses and instructions to the mountaineers and scientists depicted.

  • 1951 The White Continent (short documentary film) (camera)
  • 1953 Conquering Everest (documentary) (camera, actor)
  • 1953 Below the Sahara (documentary) (as Tom Stobart) (camera)
  • 1955 Tensing's Country ( short documentary film) (camera)
  • 1956 Adventure On (documentary) (as Tom Stobart) (Director, Cinematography)
  • 1959 Men of Consett (documentary short film) (as Tom Stobart) (director, presenter)
  • 1959 Hazard (short documentary film) (director).
  • 1962 Adventure (BBC): Caviar Fishermen of the Caspian (Narrator)
  • 1963 Adventure (BBC): The Hunting of the Truffle (presenter)
  • 1969 Pakistan (short documentary film) (Director)
  • 1979 The Great Monkey Rip-Off (as Tom Stobart) (Writer, Director)

Books

  • The Cook's Encyclopaedia: Ingredients and Processes . Grub Street, London 1998.
  • The International Wine And Food Society's Guide To Herbs, Spices and Flavors . McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1973. ISBN 9780070615656
  • Herbs, Spices and Flavors . Verlag Grub Street, London 1998. German: Lexicon of spices, herbs and condiments . Hörnemann Verlag 1983, ISBN 3873844141
  • Reader's Digest Pocket Guide To Herbs (1973, together with Kenneth A. Beckett) ISBN 027600003X
  • Lexicon of Spices. Bonn 1972.
  • Spice dictionary . Otto Maier Verlag, Ravensburg 1990, ISBN 3473432512 (paperback edition of the Lexicon of Spices, Herbs and Spices ).
  • Tiger Trail . Davis-Poynter Verlag, 1975. ISBN 0706701437
  • I take pictures for adventure: Extraordinary personal adventures in such places as the jungles of Africa, the swamps of Australia, and heights of Mount Everest . Doubleday Publishing, New York 1958.
  • Adventurer's Eye: The Autobiography of the Everest Film Man . The Popular Book Club 1958.

Awards

  • 1953 Awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire ).
  • 1953 BAFTA Certificate of Merit for Conquest of Everest (annual film award of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts).
  • 1954 OSCAR nomination for the expedition film Conquest of Everest .
  • 1959 nominated for BAFTA Award for "Best Specialized Film" - Hazard .

Quotes

  • “And finally there was a time when I didn't find the Hillary Specialty Soup very funny. This is a legendary power food that was invented by or for Sir Edmund Hillary , the conqueror of Mount Everest. It consists of tea, dry milk, sugar, tsampa (the sherpas' sandy breakfast cereals) and a can of sardines. All of this combined results in, as some people say, a balanced diet; others think it is a kind of fuel for night ghosts. "
  • “But only a few consider the delicate taste of fresh fish ideal, most people love the strong smell of putrefaction, and fish that is really over or has been fermented is highly regarded . There are incredible products out there. While I was writing this book, I brought a can of Surstromming from Sweden . My suggestion: send your family away for a day, open the can in the farthest corner of the garden, the wind in your back and a spade in hand. After enjoying the horror, quickly bury it and assume that you really tried it. "
  • “It is impossible to scan through the 1953 expedition photographs by Tom Stobart and George Lowe, captured on a Kodak Retina II, and not feel nostalgic. The saggy woolen jumpers, fighter pilot goggles, tin mugs of lemonade, oversized oxygen tanks, flapping tents and gap-toothed grins of the members of the Hillary expedition all seem so much more attractive than the neon micro fleeces of the modern-day climber " . (“ It is impossible to leaf through the photographs of Tom Stobart and George Lowe of the 1953 expedition, taken with a Kodak Retina II, without feeling nostalgic. The baggy woolen sweaters, fighter pilot goggles, tin cups of lemonade, oversized oxygen bottles , fluttering tents and the toothy grins of the participants in Hillary's expedition; all of this seems so much more attractive than the neon-colored microfiber clothing of today's mountaineers ”.)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b George Lowe: Some Memories of Tom Stobart 1914–1980
  2. ^ Royal Geographic Society : 16 pictures with Tom Stobart
  3. ^ BFI Film forever : Biographical information on Tom Stobart as a British filmmaker.
  4. ↑ Thomas Ralph Stobart on thepeerage.com , accessed September 16, 2016.
  5. ↑ Meet the team portraits of the participants of the Everest expedition in 1953.
  6. ↑ Australian Geographic (Hillary, 1953: He is just back from the summit and drinking a cup of tea using Tom Stobart's mug.): Sir Edmund Hillary drinks from Tom Tobart's cup
  7. ^ The Royal Geographical Society, Imaging Everest: Thomas Ralph Stobart, OBE
  8. ↑ Wild Film History: Tom Stobart
  9. ↑ Tom Stobart in the IMDB.
  10. ↑ Wild Film History: Tom Stobart
  11. ↑ Video (1h17 ') ( Memento from July 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) The Conquest of everest ; Oscar nomination in 1954 for best documentary.
  12. ↑ Video (28 ') Consett Iron and Steel Works 1950s - 1960s
  13. ↑ The movie Hazard
  14. ↑ Video (3 ') Caviar Fishermen Aka Rumania (1962)
  15. ↑ BAFTA Award winners
  16. ↑ Video (1 ') Tom Stobart and the Queen at the premiere.
  17. ↑ Tom Stobart: Lexicon of Spices, Herbs and Condiments, p. 14.
  18. ↑ Tom Stobart: Lexicon of Spices, Herbs and Condiments, p. 60.
  19. ↑ Joe Shute: Everest: how many more can the top of the world take?
personal data
SURNAME Stobart, Tom
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stobart, Thomas Ralph (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English climber, cameraman, director, writer and expert on herbs and spices
DATE OF BIRTH 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH England
DATE OF DEATH 1980
Place of death Hassocks , Sussex