Cinematographer Gary Graver dead at 68

Posted:
Nov 18, 2006

Cinematographer Gary Graver, whose many works included Fred Olen Ray's partly animated 1992 horror spoof Evil Toons, died Thursday at his Rancho Mirage, California home after a long battle with cancer. He was 68.

Graver, who was also a producer and director, died at home with his wife Jillian Kesner-Graver, son Sean and other family by his side.

Despite working on many adult films, Graver was the cinematographer for Bugs Bunny Superstar, and had a 15-year collaboration with Orson Welles, the narrator of the 1975 Warner Bros. feature documentary.

Graver was born July 20, 1938 in Portland, Oregon, where he was raised. In high school, he produced and starred in his own weekly radio show.

Moving into acting, he studied and performed at the the Portland Civic Theatre and Grant High School, as well as being a child circus clown and magician. He built a theater in his basement, showing 16mm films and producing plays for the neighborhood kids.

At age 20, he moved to Hollywood to continue his studies. He studied with Jeff Corey, Douglas Fowley, Lee J. Cobb and Lucille Ball. Finding acting jobs hard to come by, he switched to production work and produced and directed a short film and a feature. Soon, the draft would take him to Vietnam, where he became a member of the U.S. Navy Combat Camera Group.

Not really being a cameraman at the time, he went around to all the camera rental houses in Hollywood and picked up all the knowledge he could and quickly adapted for his two-year tour of duty in the Far East, Vietnam, Japan and the Philippines.

After leaving the military, he worked in documentaries for one year before getting into "feature productions." After photographing such classics as Satan's Sadists and Dracula vs. Frankenstein, he decided to call on Welles, whom he read was in town. It was just a fluke, as Graver did not know Welles, nor had he ever met him.

Welles explained that only one other cameraman had just called him up and said he wanted to work with him. That was Gregg Toland, who photographed Citizen Kane.

Welles and Graver immediately embarked on a series on half-hour shows for Sears department stores. Called An Evening with Orson Welles, it consisted of six stories told on film by Welles and then transferred to a new, up-and-coming medium... videotape.

It was the beginning of a close friendship and creative filmmaking. In 1970 Graver, Welles and his collaborator, Oja Kodar, started filming a feature project, The Other Side of the Wind. The production of this movie was to take place over a period of five years. Shooting was completed in Los Angeles in 1975 at the home of Peter Bogdonavich.

A marathon schedule that took the project to Arizona, France, Spain, Belgium, New York, Hollywood, Yugoslavia, Italy and England. Through a series of legal entanglements, the film was never brought through post-production, although Welles left and edited 45 minutes and editing notes.

During this period, in 1973, Welles, Kodar and Graver made a feature in Europe titled F for Fake. Since then, Welles and Graver worked on many projects, including The Orson Welles Show for TV syndication, with Burt Reynolds, Angie Dickinson and the Muppets. Other projects included Orson Welles Scrapbook, Orson Welles Magic Show, and the essay film Filming of Othello.

On the morning of Welles' death, on October 10, 1985, they were to begin filming Julius Caesar, with Welles' playing all of the parts himself. Two days previously, the stage had been pre-lit at UCLA Theatre Arts Department.

Between times, in the midst of all the Welles projects, Graver maintained his professional status as a Hollywood cinematographer, making many feature films for Roger Corman: Moonshine County Express, Deathsport (with David Carradine) and Grand Theft Auto (directed by Ron Howard).

He also photographed The Toolbox Murders; The Attic, with Carrie Snodgrass and Ray Milland; Mortuary; Chattanooga Choo-Choo; and the remake of Stagecoach, with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings.

For Disney, Graver shot Love Leads The Way: A True Story (1984), starring Timothy Bottoms, Patricia Neal, Eva Marie Saint, Ernest Borgnine, Ralph Bellamy and Arthur Hill. In 1981, he directed The Boys from his own screenplay, starring Cameron Mitchell and his son Channing Mitchell. This film was subsequently destroyed by the producer and distributor. The hard-hitting drama in the screenplay in the directors' cut finally emerged as a comedy released by Film Ventures as Texas Lightning.

In 1982, Graver wrote, produced and directed Trick or Treats. This film featured his son Christopher, along with David Carradine, Carrie Snodgrass, Steve Railsback, Jackie Giroux, Paul Bartel and Jillian Kesner.

In the 1980s, Graver photographed five TV "movies of the week" starring Gary Coleman for NBC.

In 1986, he photographed a film for Vestron titled Party Camp which had a limited theatrical release before going to video. The year 1987 was spent mostly on directing, photographing and editing Moon in Scorpio for Trans World Entertainment. This supernatural thriller, set on the high seas with a vampire and astrological plot involving several decadent characters, was re-edited many times by the producers and then released only on video, where it made money. In this film, Graver directed John Phillip Law, Britt Ecklund, William Smith, Lewis Van Bergen, Jillian Kesner and April Wayne.

In 1988 he directed a comedy farce, Nerds of a Feather, featuring comedian Pat McCormick and female impersonator Charles Pierce, producer Mario Milano and a cast of midgets. Following this, Graver produced and photographed Jaded. Set in Venice, California, this off-beat psycho-drama was written and directed by Oja Kodar. It starred Jillian Kesner and Elizabeth Brooks. Orson Welles also appeared in a cameo from the unseen clip of Merchant of Venice, playing Shylock.
Also in 1988, he photographed B.O.R.N., Deadly Revenge, Night Children, Alienator, L.A. Bounty and Demon Sword.

After photographing many shorts, TV movies, commercials and documentaries (Billy Wilder, Douglas Sirk, NASA, Carradines in Concert, Harlem Globetrotters) and music videos (Kool and the Gang, Gap Band, Warlock, Hiroshima, etc.), Graver concentrated on developing his own projects for production and is planning to complete the unfinished Welles film The Other Side of the Wind.

In 1981, he won the Critics' Adult Film Award for Best Director for Amanda by Night.

Gary Graver and wife Jillian shared 25 years together that took them around the world on filmmaking projects and speaking engagements. He is also survived by mother Frances Bolen of Rancho Mirage; brother Geoff of Austin, Texas; two sons from earlier marriages, Sean of Tacoma, Washington and Chris of Los Angeles; nephew Adam, and granddaughters Nicole and Stephanie.

At his request, his life will be remembered with a special gathering in the near future. You may contact Jillian at graverg-aol.comor Sean at sean-seanandmaria.com.