Gary Graver (July 20, 1938 - November 16, 2006) was an American film director and cinematographer. He was a prolific film-maker but is perhaps best-known as Orson Welles' final cinematographer. Under the pseudonym of Robert McCallum he also directed adult films.
Graver was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. In high school, he produced and starred in his own radio show, and had built a movie theatre in his parents' basement wher he showed his own films.
At age 20, he moved to Hollywood to become an actor, but drifted into production when work as an actor was scarce. He was drafted into the U.S. military and was assigned to the Navy Combat Camera Group. Upon returning to civilian life, Graver made documentaries for a year before starting to work on larger budget features.
In 1970, Graver made an unannounced call on Orson Welles, saying he wanted to work with the director. Welles told Graver that only one other person had ever called him to say they wanted to work with him - and that was Gregg Toland who worked with Welles on Citizen Kane and other films.
Soon after, Welles and Graver started work on the film The Other Side of the Wind, as well as other projects Welles had in the works including F For Fake, "Trick Or Treats (1982 film)" and Filming Othello.
Graver's work for Welles was unpaid, and during the shooting of one scene in The Other Side of the Wind, Welles used as a prop his 1941 Oscar that he won as the co-writer of Citizen Kane. When shooting was finished, he handed the statuette to Graver saying, "Here, keep this." Graver understood this to be a gift in lieu of payment for his work. Graver held onto the award for several years until 1994 when he sold it for $50,000. The purchaser, a company called Bay Holdings, then attempted to sell it at action through Sotheby's in London. When Welles daughter, Beatrice Welles learned of the intended sale, she successfully sued both Graver and the holding company to stop the sale. She eventually took possession of the statuette.
Besides his work with Welles, Graver also worked for other notable Hollywood directors including Roger Corman, Fred Olen Ray and Ron Howard. The bulk of his output was B-movies since, as he put it, "I knew how to make a movie without much money."
Graver's work in the adult film industry resulted in more than 135 films including Unthinkable, which won the AVN Award for Best All-Sex Video in 1985. Graver was later inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame for his work.
Gary Graver died on November 16, 2006 at his home in Rancho Mirage, California after a lengthy battle with cancer. His widow, the former actress Jillian Kesner]] died of leukemia in December 2007. Gary Graver's memoir, Making Movies with Orson Welles, is forthcoming from Scarecrow Press.
References
^ Dave Kehr, " Objection Quashes Sale of Welles's 'Kane' Oscar", New York Times, July 22, 2003
^ Los Angeles Times obituary
^ Giving Gary Graver His Due
^ http://www.jilliankesner.com/obituary.htm Jillian Kesner-Graves obituary
^ http://www.wellesnet.com/?p=198 Wellesnet
External links
Official homepage
Gary Graver at the Internet Movie Database
Los Angeles Times obituary
Gary Graver Profile
Gary Graver at Allmovie
Gary Graver at Wellsnet
Unhappy with the way he felt producers sometimes butchered his work, in 2004 Graver made a documentary outlining his greivances. The entire documentary was posted on YouTube in several parts: A Gary Graver Movie.
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Graver"
Categories: 1938 births | 2006 deaths | Deaths from cancer | American film directors
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