William H. Clothier

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William H. Clothier (born February 21, 1903 in Decatur , Illinois , † January 7, 1996 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American cameraman .

biography

William Clothier's film career began at Warner Bros. as a set painter. He later became a camera technician (mostly in B-Westerns). In 1927 he met Harry Perry , who brought him to his recording team. As a camera technician specializing in aerial photography, he worked on the first Oscar winner in film history, Wings . Paramount now signed the young man. Clothier was able to work with the experienced Bert Glennon and Victor Milner . When talkies became the standard, Clothier switched to RKO Pictures . The director of Wings , William A. Wellman , took Clothier to the set of The Conquerors , where he made again for the aerial photography. As a camera assistant, mostly unmentioned, he worked on films such as the western Cimarron (1930) and the horror classic King Kong and the White Woman (1933).

In 1933 Clothier left Hollywood for Spain, where he made three films as chief cameraman. After returning to the US, he joined the US Air Force . During the Second World War he took part as Lieutenant Colonel in 17 missions on a B-17, the so-called Memphis Belle . Clothier served in a special department for aerial photography. With this experience and footage from that time, he and William Wyler made the documentary The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress . Here, the audience could see some of the few color photos of aerial battles during the war.

After the war, Clothier resumed his work as a cameraman in Hollywood. Director John Ford often worked with him, and Wellman kept coming back to the now well-known chief cameraman, with whose films he was able to experiment a lot, both in terms of aerial photography and color techniques. John Wayne was a frequent lead actor in Ford and Wellman. After working on Wayne's debut directing The Alamo , Clothier directed a large number of subsequent John Wayne films, many of which were directed by Andrew V. McLaglen , a former Ford and Wellman assistant director. In 1965 he became a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).

Clothier made his last film in 1973 with the western Dirty Gold . As head cameraman, he has worked on over 50 films in his career.

Awards

  • 1961: Oscar nomination for Alamo
  • 1965: Oscar nomination for Cheyenne
  • 1973: Trustees Award from the Western Heritage Awards for services to the Western
  • 1995: Recognition of his life's work with the President's Award from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC)

Filmography as chief cameraman (selection)

Web links

literature

  • Scott Eyman : Five American Cinematographers. Interviews with Karl Strauss, Joseph Ruttenberg, James Wong Howe, Linwood Dunn, and William H. Clothier . Scarecrow Press, 1987, ISBN 0-8108-1974-0 - English
personal data
SURNAME Clothier, William H.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American cameraman
DATE OF BIRTH February 21, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Decatur , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH January 7, 1996
Place of death Los Angeles , California