Haskell WexlerASC(February 6, 1922 – December 27, 2015) was an Americancinematographer,film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of theInternational Cinematographers Guild.[2]He won theAcademy Award for Best Cinematographytwice, in 1966 and 1976, out of five nominations. In his obituary in The New York Times, Wexler is described as being "renowned as one of the most inventive cinematographers in Hollywood."[3]
Haskell Wexler | |
|---|---|
 Wexler in 1999 | |
| Born | February 6, 1922 Chicago, Illinois,U.S. |
| Died | December 27, 2015(aged 93) |
| Occupation(s) | Cinematographer, film producer and director |
| Years active | 1947–2015 |
| Known for | Cinéma vérité |
| Notable work | America America(1963);Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?(1966);In the Heat of the Night(1967);The Thomas Crown Affair(1968);Medium Cool(1969);Bound for Glory(1976);Days of Heaven(1978) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | |
| Relatives | Yale Wexler(brother) Jerrold Wexler(brother) Tanya Wexler(niece) |
Early life and education
editWexler was born to aJewishfamily in Chicago in 1922.[4]His parents were Simon and Lottie Wexler, whose children includedJerrold,Joyce (Isaacs) and Yale. He attended the progressiveFrancis Parker School,where he was best friends withBarney Rosset.
After a year of college at theUniversity of California, Berkeley,he volunteered as a seaman in theU.S. Merchant Marinein 1941, as the U.S. was preparing to enterWorld War II.He became friends with fellow sailorWoody Guthrie,who later gained fame as a folk singer.[5]While in the Merchant Marine, Wexler advocated for the desegregation of seamen.[6]In November 1942, his ship was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank off the coast of South Africa. He spent 10 days on a lifeboat before being rescued.[6]After the war, Wexler received theSilver Starand was promoted to the rank ofsecond officer.[6][7]
He returned to Chicago after his discharge in 1946 and began working in the stockroom at his father's company, Allied Radio. He decided he wanted to become a filmmaker, although he had no experience, and his father helped him set up a small studio inDes Plaines,Illinois. He began by shooting industrial films at Midwest factories. When his studio lost too much money, it was eventually shut down, but the business served as an unofficial film school for Wexler.[6]
He later took freelance jobs as a cameraman, joining the International Photographers Guild in 1947. He worked his way up to more technical positions after beginning as an assistant cameraman on various projects.[6]He made a number of documentaries, includingThe Living City,which was nominated for an Academy Award.
Film career
editWexler briefly made industrial films in Chicago, then in 1947 became an assistant cameraman. Wexler worked on documentary features and shorts; low-budgetdocu-dramassuch as 1959'sThe Savage Eye,television'sThe Adventures of Ozzie and Harrietand TV commercials (he would later found Wexler-Hall, a television commercial production company, withConrad Hall). He made ten documentary films with director Saul Landau, includingPaul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang,which aired onPBSand won anEmmy Awardand a George Polk Award. Other notable documentaries shot and co-directed (with Landau) by Wexler includedBrazil: A Report on TortureandThe CIA Case OfficerandThe Sixth Sun: A Mayan Uprising in Chiapas.
In 1963 Wexler self-funded, produced and photographed the documentaryThe Busin which a group ofFreedom Ridersare followed as they make their way from San Francisco to Washington D.C.[8]That same year he served as the cinematographer on his first big-budget film,Elia Kazan'sAmerica America.Kazan was nominated for aBest DirectorAcademy Award.Wexler worked steadily in Hollywood thereafter.George Lucas,then 20, met Wexler who shared his hobby of auto racing. Wexler pulled a few strings to help Lucas get admitted to the USC Film School.[9]Wexler would later work with Lucas as a consultant forAmerican Graffiti(1973).
Wexler was cinematographer ofMike Nichols' screen version ofWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?(1966), for which he won the lastAcademy Award for Best Cinematography (Black & White)handed out.[10]The following year had Wexler as the cinematographer for the Oscar-winning detective drama,In the Heat of the Night(1967), starringSidney Poitier.His work was notable for being the first major film in Hollywood history to be shot in color with proper consideration for a person of African descent. Wexler recognized that standard lighting tended to produce too much glare on that kind of dark complexion making the actors look bad. Accordingly, Wexler toned it down to feature Poitier with better photographic results.[11]
Wexler was fired as cinematographer during filming ofFrancis Ford Coppola'sThe Conversationand replaced byBill Butler.He was also fired fromMiloš Forman's 1975 filmOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nestand again replaced byBill Butler.Wexler believed his dismissal onCuckoo's Nestwas due to his radical left political views as highlighted by his concurrent work on the documentaryUnderground,in which the left-wing urban guerrilla groupThe Weather Undergroundwere being interviewed while hiding from the law. However, Forman said he had terminated Wexler over mere artistic differences. Both Wexler and Butler received Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography forOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,though Wexler said there was "only about a minute or two minutes in that film I didn't shoot.”[5]
However, he won a second Oscar forBound for Glory(1976), a biography ofWoody Guthrie,whom Wexler had met during his time in the Merchant Marine.Bound for Glorywas the first feature film to make use of the newly inventedSteadicam,in a famous sequence that also incorporated acrane shot.Wexler was also credited as additional cinematographer onDays of Heaven(1978), which won a Best Cinematography Oscar forNéstor Almendros.Wexler was featured on the soundtrack of the filmUnderground(1976), recorded onFolkways Recordsin 1976.[12]
He worked on documentaries throughout his career. The documentaryPaul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang(1980) earned anEmmy Award;Interviews with My Lai Veterans(1970) won an Academy Award. His later documentaries included;Bus Riders' Union(2000), about the modernization and expansion of bus services in Los Angeles by the organization and its founderEric Mann,Who Needs Sleep?(2006),[13]theIndependent LensdocumentaryGood Kurds, Bad Kurds: No Friends But the Mountains(2000),[14]Tell Them Who You Are(2004)[13]Bringing King to China(2011),[15]andFrom Wounded Knee to Standing Rock: A Reporter's Journey(2019).[16]
Wexler also directed fictional movies.Medium Cool(1969), a film written by Wexler and shot in acinéma véritéstyle, is studied by film students all over the world for its breakthrough form. It influenced more than a generation of filmmakers. In DVD commentary for Criterion Collection, Wexler recalled that the studio execs were flabbergasted the film, "an edgy, Godardian tale that ricocheted from one hot-button topic to the next (poverty, racism, civil rebellion, the war in Vietnam, the Kennedy and King assassinations)."[17]The making ofMedium Coolwas the subject of aBBCdocumentary by Paul Cronin,Look Out Haskell, It's Real: The Making of Medium Cool(2001).[18]"Medium Cool" was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2003.[19]
Produced byLucasfilmand uncredited George Lucas, Wexler's filmLatino(1985) was chosen for the1985 Cannes Film Festival.He both wrote and directed the work. Another directing project wasFrom Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks(2007), an intimate exploration of the life and times ofHarry Bridges,an extraordinary labor leader and social visionary described as "a hero or the devil incarnate--it all depends on your point of view."[20]
In 1988, Wexler won theIndependent Spirit Award for Best Cinematographyfor theJohn SaylesfilmMatewan(1987), for which he was also nominated for an Academy Award. His work withBilly Crystalin theHBOfilm61*(2001) was nominated for an Emmy.
In 2021, filmmakers Joan Churchill and Alan Barker released a 26-minute documentary,Shoot From the Heart,about Wexler's life and career.[21]Churchill described her intention in making the film this way: “We were making a film about a man who was a passionate activist, who never gave up hope for the world.”[22]
A "lifelong liberal activist," during the final years of his life, Wexler trained his focus on raising awareness of sleep deprivation and long hours in the film industry, culminating in the documentaryWho Needs Sleep?(2006), which "examined the routine overworking of Hollywood film crews."[3][19]In a first-person article in HuffPost, Wexler wrote, "There's nothing I love more than making films. But the health of my fellow film workers and citizens is more important than anything on the silver screen."[23]
Personal life
editWexler married the American actressRita Taggartin 1989. He had two sons, a daughter, four grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.
Death
editWexler died in his sleep at the age of 93 on December 27, 2015, at his home inSanta Monica, California.[24][25]
Filmography
editCinematographer
editShort film
edit| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | T Is for Tumbleweed | Louis Clyde Stoumen | |
| 1966 | One | Steven North | |
| 1976 | Polaroid Glasses | Himself | |
| 1977 | STP Oil Treatment | ||
| Plymouth Fury | WithConrad L. Hall | ||
| 1978 | John Wayne for Great Western Savings | Himself |
Feature film
editTelevision
edit| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | The Eddy Arnold Show | Ben Park | Episode "Betty Johnson, The Jordanaires" |
| 1998 | Sandra Bernhard: I'm Still Here... Damn It! | Marty Callner | TV special |
| 2001 | 61* | Billy Crystal | TV movie |
| 2007 | Big Love | Adam Davidson | Episode "Rock and a Hard Place" |
Documentary works
editShort film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | The Living City | Himself John Barnes |
|
| 1971 | Interviews with My Lai Veterans | Joseph Strick | WithRichard Pearce |
| 1978 | War Without Winners | Himself | |
| 1982 | Hail Columbia! | Graeme Ferguson | With Graeme Ferguson,David Douglas,Richard Leiterman, Ronald M. Lautore and Phillip Thomas |
| 1996 | Mexico | Lorena Parlee | With David Douglas,James Neihouseand Álex Phillips Jr. |
| 2000 | The Man on Lincoln's Nose | Daniel Raim | With Daniel Raim and Guido Verweyen |
| 2001 | SOA: Guns and Greed | Robert Richter | With Alan Jacobsen |
| 2013 | Medium Cool Revisited | Himself |
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | The Bus | Himself | |
| 1974 | Introduction to the Enemy | ||
| 1976 | Underground | Emile de Antonio Mary Lampson Himself |
|
| 1979 | Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang | Jack Willis Penny Bernstein |
With Zack Krieger |
| 1980 | No Nukes | Daniel Goldberg Anthony Potenza Julian Schlossberg |
Concert film |
| 1982 | Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip | Joe Layton | Stand-up comedy |
| 1992 | Papakolea: A Story of Hawaiian Land | Edgy Lee | |
| 1997 | The Sixth Sun: Mayan Uprising in Chiapas | Saul Landau | |
| 2000 | Good Kurds, Bad Kurds: No Friends But the Mountains | Kevin McKiernan | With Kevin McKiernan |
| Bus Rider's Union | Himself Johanna Demetrakas |
||
| 2005 | Bastards of the Party | Cle Shaheed Sloan | With Joan Churchill, Mark Woods andPhil Parmet |
| 2006 | Who Needs Sleep?[27] | Himself | With Alan Barker, Joan Churchill,Tamara Goldsworthy, Kevin McKiernan andRita Taggart |
| 2009 | In the Name of Democracy: The Story of Lt. Ehren Watada | Nina Rosenblum | |
| Something's Gonna Live | Daniel Raim | With Daniel Raim and Guido Verweyen | |
| 2010 | Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up? | Saul Landau | With Roberto Chile |
| 2011 | Bringing King to China | Kevin McKiernan | |
| 2012 | Occupy Los Angeles | Joseph G. Quinn | |
| 2013 | Eagles: Live at the Capital Centre (March 1977) | Victoria Hochberg | |
| Four Days in Chicago | Himself | ||
| 2019 | From Wounded Knee to Standing Rock: A Reporter's Journey | Kevin McKiernan | TV movie; Posthumous release |
Director
editShort film
| Year | Title | Director | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Polaroid Glasses | Yes | |
| 1977 | STP Oil Treatment | Yes | Yes |
| 1978 | John Wayne for Great Western Savings | Yes | Yes |
Feature film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Medium Cool | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1983 | Bus II | Yes | Co-directed with Thom Tyson | ||
| 1985 | Latino | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2007 | From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks | Yes |
Documentary short
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | The Living City | Uncredited | Yes | Co-directed withJohn Barnes(Both were uncredited) |
| 1978 | War Without Winners | Yes | ||
| 2013 | Medium Cool Revisited | Yes |
Documentary film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | The Bus | Yes | Yes | ||
| 1971 | Brazil: A Report on Torture | Yes | Co-directed withSaul Landau | ||
| 1974 | Introduction to the Enemy | Yes | |||
| 1976 | Underground | Yes | Co-directed withEmile de Antonioand Mary Lampson | ||
| 1980 | No Nukes | Uncredited | Documentary footage only | ||
| 2000 | Bus Rider's Union | Yes | Yes | Co-directed withJohanna Demetrakas | |
| 2006 | Who Needs Sleep? | Yes | |||
| 2013 | Four Days in Chicago | Yes | Yes | Executive |
Acting credits
editFilm
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Medium Cool | Cameraman on Scaffold | Uncredited |
| 1978 | Coming Home | Officer Awarding Medals | |
| 2002 | Out of These Rooms | Alice'a husband | |
| 2007 | Battle in Seattle | Himself |
Short film
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | The Big Empty | Bookstore customer |
| 2014 | The Moving Picture Co. 1914 | Cameraman / Carpenter |
Legacy and honors (career awards)
edit- In 1993, Wexler won a Lifetime Achievement Award from theAmerican Society of Cinematographers,the first active cameraman to be awarded.[28]
- In 1996, he was awarded a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame,the first cinematographer in 35 years to be so honored.[28]
- In 2004, Wexler was the subject of a documentary,Tell Them Who You Are,directed by his son,Mark Wexler.[29]
- In 2007, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Independent Documentary Association and the same from theSociety of Operating Cameramen.[30][31]
- In 2014, theLocation Managers Guild of Americaawarded Wexler theHumanitarian Awardat its inaugural awards show.[32]
- Six of the films he worked on have been preserved by theNational Film Registryfor being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant":Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf(inducted in 2013),Days of Heaven(2007),Medium Cool(2003),In the Heat of the Night(2002),American Graffiti(1995) andOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest(1993).[33][34][35]
- In September 2016,George Lucascreated the Haskell Wexler Endowed Chair in Documentary at theUSC School of Cinematic Arts.The first holder of the Wexler Chair is Michael Renov, Vice Dean of Academic Affairs at SCA and a professor in the Bryan Singer Division of Cinema & Media Studies.
References
edit- ^"Haskell Wexler Biography (1922?-)".Filmreference.com.Retrieved29 January2018.
- ^"Top 10 Most Influential Cinematographers Voted on by Camera Guild".PRNewswire. October 16, 2003. Archived fromthe originalon January 21, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 17,2014.
- ^abAnderson, John (2015-12-27)."Haskell Wexler, Oscar-Winning Cinematographer, Dies at 93".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^"Haskell Wexler: The Hollywood Interview".Haskell Wexler's personal blog.Archived fromthe originalon February 2, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 17,2014.
- ^abAnderson, John (December 27, 2015)."Haskell Wexler, Oscar-Winning Cinematographer, Dies at 93".The New York Times– via NYTimes.com.
- ^abcdeCurrent Biography Yearbook 2007,H. W. Wilson Co. (2007) pp. 594-596
- ^"About".Haskell Wexler's personal blog.Retrieved17 Jan2014.
- ^"NFPF Grant Recipient: Haskell Wexler's The Bus (1965)".Archive UCLA Film & Television.26 July 2019.Retrieved25 November2019.
- ^"From ‘American Graffiti’ To Outer Space",New York Times,Sept. 12, 1976
- ^Beginning the next year, theAcademyeliminated a separate category for awards for Black and White and Color inArt Direction,Cinematography,andCostume Design.Source:Clooney, Nick(November 2002).The Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen.New York: Atria Books, a trademark of Simon & Schuster. p.79.ISBN0-7434-1043-2.
- ^Harris, Mark (2008).Pictures at a Revolution: Five Films and the Birth of a New Hollywood.Penguin Press. p.221.ISBN9781594201523.
- ^"Underground: Emile de Antonio, Mary Lampson, and Haskell Wexler with the Weather Underground".Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^ab"Haskell Wexler, Oscar-Winning Cinematographer, Dies at 93".The New York Times.2015-12-27.Retrieved2022-11-05.
- ^"Good Kurds, Bad Kurds".The University of Arizona CMES Video and Book Library.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^"BRINGING KING TO CHINA".DOC NYC.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^"New film: From Wounded Knee to Standing Rock".The Santa Barbara Independent.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^Jones, J.R. (2013-07-10)."The lost Chicago of Medium Cool".Chicago Reader.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^French, Philip (2015-09-13)."Medium Cool review – a landmark fusion of fiction and documentary".The Guardian.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^abMcLellan, Dennis; Dolan (2015-12-28)."Haskell Wexler dies at 93; two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer and lifelong activist".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^"From Wharf Rats to the Lords of the Docks: The Life and Times of Harry Bridges".The Harry Bridges Project.Archived fromthe originalon 2009-12-12.
- ^Jenkins, Tara (2022-02-03)."A Candid Look at Haskell Wexler".American Cinematographer.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^Jenkins, Tara (2022-02-03)."Behind the Legend: A Candid Look at Haskell Wexler, ASC in Shoot From the Heart – The American Society of Cinematographers".American Cinematographer.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^Wexler, Haskell (2012-03-29)."Sleepless in Hollywood: A Threat to Health and Safety".HuffPost.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^Richard Natale (December 27, 2015)."Haskell Wexler, Oscar-Winning Cinematographer and Documentary Filmmaker, Dies at 93".Variety.com.RetrievedDecember 27,2015.
- ^Matt Brenan (December 27, 2015)."Haskell Wexler, Legendary Cinematographer, Dead at 93".Indie Wire.com. Archived fromthe originalon December 29, 2015.RetrievedDecember 27,2015.
- ^"Haskell Wexler obituary".TheGuardian.com.27 December 2015.
- ^"12on12off".12on12off.
- ^ab"Haskell Wexler".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^"Tell Them Who You Are".the Guardian.2006-06-02.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^"PAST SOC LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS".SOC Awards.2014-12-06.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^"Where Are They Now? IDA Documentary Award Winners".International Documentary Association.2022-02-02.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^"HUMANITARIAN AWARD: CINEMATOGRAPHER HASKELL WEXLER".Location Managers Guild of America.15 April 2014.Retrieved29 June2016.
- ^"Cinema with the Right Stuff Marks 2013 National Film Registry".Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^"Haskell Wexler dies at 93; two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer and lifelong activist".Baltimore Sun.Archived fromthe originalon 2022-11-04.Retrieved2022-11-04.
- ^"Complete National Film Registry Listing | Film Registry | National Film Preservation Board | Programs | Library of Congress".Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.Retrieved2022-11-04.
External links
edit
- Official website
- Haskell WexleratIMDb
- A documentary about Wexler's 1969 film Medium Cool
- Haskell Wexler, ASC, Focuses on the Making ofMatewan
- John Patterson, "Through a lens darkly",The Guardian,interview, 2 June 2006
- UndergroundAlbum Details[permanent dead link]atSmithsonian Folkways
- Video interviewof Wexler about the filmMedium Cool
- Haskell Wexler Dead at 93: Legendary Cinematographer, Activist Captured the Struggles of Our Times,Democracy Now!,28 December 2015
- Radio interviewwith Haskell Wexler onFresh Air(17 mins, 1993)