Hollywood Apprenticeship
I was born in Los Angeles on August 8, 1928. Like most youngsters, he had a favourite playground: it happened to be the old Warner Bros. Studio on Sunset Boulevard where my uncial workedas a production manager, I was also fortunate enough to land a part time job working as a darkroom accent for, Consolidated Film Industries.Consolidated Film Industries was a film laboratory and film processing company, and was one of the leading film laboratories in the Los Angeles area for many decades. CFI processed negatives and made prints for motion pictures industry, where I worked for four years. I was just 16 years old when I started.
After graduating as an electrical engineer from California Institute of Technology I was hired by Byron Haskin, ASC, and head of the Warner Bros. Special Effects Department on Stage 5 in Burbank. Since this was the largest such department in the movie business, I was able to work with some of the top cinematographers in the effects field, such as ASC fellows EdwinDuPar, Hans Koenekamp and Warren Lynch. When Warner Bros. purchased First National's studio in Burbank, California, I signed a contract and remained with the studio on and off for the next 40 years. I got into the cinematographers department after joining the I.A.T.S.E. International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States. I worked in the film industry throughout the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and into the 1990s. I cannot describe days on the film set.
I also had a job as a Unit Stills Photographers I have created two kinds of images. The first one the making of the movie and the second Stills includes close-ups of the actors and crew, wide shots of the crew shooting the action, this work ran side by side with my movie work.
That's it in a nutshell! Looking back now I would have never courted fame or publicity, which is why I felt a tremendous sense of pride when he asked me to go on working into my 80’s my inside knowledge of some of the biggest and most memorable films ever made is invaluable, more so now that the other ‘Dedicated Maniacs’ who worked with Howard Hawks - Charles K. Feldman - Edward Small- who have all passed away. I have many “Beautiful Memories” of these days. I would like to cheer some of these memories with you.
Special Artists Agency Attn: Marcia Hurwitz 345 N. Maple Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, USA.
Recent Comments
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I appreciate the sharing of memories, I enjoy many of the film classics made in the 40's-60's . You were very lucky to be a part of all that.