I just found out that Cinematographer Gordon Willis ASC, died this morning, of cancer, 12 days short of his 83rd Birthday. Gordons son, Gordon Jr., phoned me with the sad news, and asked me to spread the word here on FaceBook. Gordon Willis was, of course, best known for his work as Director of Photography on the Godfather I, II, and III, and also such films as All the Presidents Men, Manhattan, Annie Hall, Klute, Presumed Innocent, Zelig, The Parallax View, The Paper Chase, Little Murders, and many others. Gordons first feature was End of the Road, in 1970, and his last film before retirement was The Devils Own, in 1997, 30 years of incredible Cinematography. I was lucky enough to have worked with Gordon as his 1st Camera Assistant for ten films in ten years, basically the decade of the 1980s, and a handful of commercials between the features. I also did a few days on Manhattan, and about 2 weeks on Windows, which Gordon Directed as well as photographed. Many people, including me, feel that Gordon was ignored for far too long by the Oscars - he did not get nominated for any of the Godfather films, or Manhattan, or Annie Hall, or Klute, and in fact his ONLY nomination for Cinematography (and he didnt win) was for Zelig, one of the Woody Allen films than I worked with him on. After news of the nomination came, he said to me, Of all the films to get nominated for, they picked Zelig? We only made half a movie - the rest was stock footage, and the rest of the footage I deliberately screwed up, to make it look like an old, faded, and scratched newsreel !! Gordon finally did receive a Lifetime Achievement Oscar, a few years after he retired. Ill be posting more about Gordon, and more photos. But the Cinema world has lost one of its shining stars and greatest masters, as far as I am concerned. No news yet about services or a memorial, but as I hear it, I will post here. R.I.P Gordon Willis, Master Cinematographer, my friend and mentor.
Posted on: Mon, 19 May 2014 04:44:11 +0000
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