Gary Graver

Gary Graver
BornJuly 20, 1938
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
DiedNovember 16, 2006(2006-11-16) (aged 68)
Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.
Other namesRobert McCallum
EducationGrant High School
Occupation(s)Film director, cinematographer
Spouses
Andrea Ellestad
​
(m. 1960)​
Connie Nelson
​
​
(m. 1969; div. 1972)​
April Silva
​
​
(m. 1974; div. 1976)​
​
​
(m. 1981)​
Children2

Gary Foss Graver (July 20, 1938 – November 16, 2006)[1] was an American film director, editor, screenwriter and cinematographer. He was a prolific filmmaker, working in various roles on over 300 films,[1] but is best known as Orson Welles' final cinematographer, working over a period of six years on Welles' epic film The Other Side of the Wind which was released in 2018, 48 years after it was started.

Graver began his career in the late 1960s as a cinematographer and editor of various B-movies, including several films by Roger Corman, before providing additional camerawork on John Cassavetes's A Woman Under the Influence (1974). He continued to serve as the cinematographer of numerous horror films from the late 1970s and through the 1980s, including The Toolbox Murders (1978), Trick or Treats (1982), which he also wrote, edited, and directed; Mortuary (1983), They're Playing with Fire (1984), and Twisted Nightmare (1988).

Under the pseudonym of Robert McCallum, Graver was also a prolific director of adult films, working as a cinematographer and director on 135 features.[2]

Early life

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Graver was born July 20, 1938, in Portland, Oregon, to Raleigh and Frances Graver.[3] His father was a native Oregonian, while his mother was born in Washington state.[3] Graver was raised in Portland,[4] where he attended Grant High School.[5] As a teenager, he produced and starred in his own radio show, and built a movie theatre in his parents' basement where he showed his own 16 mm films.[5] He also acted in stage productions for the Portland Civic Theatre.[6]

At age twenty, Graver moved to Hollywood to become an actor, and studied acting with Lee J. Cobb.[6] He was drafted into the U.S. military in the early 1960s and was assigned to the Navy Combat Camera Group, where he was trained as a professional cameraman while touring in Vietnam, the Philippines, and Japan.[6]

Career

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Feature films

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After returning to civilian life, Graver began his career in Los Angeles working on documentaries for a year before starting to work on larger budget features. Graver wrote and directed his first film, The Embracers, in 1966.[7] He would subsequently serve as the cinematographer and editor on the B-films The Mighty Gorga, The Fabulous Bastard from Chicago, and Satan's Sadists (all 1969).[7]

In 1970, Graver made an unannounced inquiry to 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—Gregg Toland who, had worked with Welles on Citizen Kane.[8]

From that day forward, Orson Welles was the central figure in Gary Graver's life: more important than his wife, his children, his bank account, and his health. For the rest of Orson's life (and his own) Graver belonged to the great director."[8] Soon after, Welles and Graver started work on the unfinished film The Other Side of the Wind, in addition to other projects Welles had in the works including F for Fake (1973), which he co-shot with French cinematographer François Reichenbach; and Filming Othello (1978)[1]

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 he ran into financial trouble in the 1990s, and in 1994 he sold it for $50,000. The purchaser, a company called Bay Holdings, then attempted to sell it at auction through Sotheby's in London. When Welles's daughter Beatrice Welles learned of the intended sale, she successfully sued both Graver and the holding company to stop it. She eventually took possession of the statuette before attempting to sell it herself, however Christie's withdrew it from auction after the Academy objected to the sale.[9]

Besides his work with Welles, Graver also worked for other Hollywood directors including Roger Corman and Fred Olen Ray. The bulk of his output was B-movies since, as he put it, "I knew how to make a movie without much money."[4] While working on The Other Side of the Wind between 1970 and 1976, Graver worked as a cinematographer and editor in various other B-horror films such as Blood Mania (1970), Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971), and Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973).[7] The following year, Graver contributed additional camerawork on John Cassavetes's A Woman Under the Influence (1974).[7] In 1977, he served as cinematographer for Ron Howard's Grand Theft Auto, followed by the cult horror film The Toolbox Murders (1978).[7]

In 1982, Graver wrote, directed, edited, and produced the slasher film Trick or Treats,[10] after which he served as cinematographer on the slasher film Mortuary (1983), and the comedy Chattanooga Choo Choo (1984). He directed the thriller film Moon in Scorpio starring Britt Ekland in 1987, followed by a cinematography credit on Twisted Nightmare (1988).[7] The following year, Graver provided additional cinematography on Steven Spielberg's Always (1989), working on the film's Montana unit.[7]

Adult films

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Throughout his career in mainstream cinema, Graver also worked as a writer and director of pornographic films, often credited as Robert McCallum.[2] 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 contributions to the adult film industry.[2]

Death

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Graver died on November 16, 2006, at his home in Rancho Mirage, California after a lengthy battle with cancer.[11] His widow, former actress Jillian Kesner, died the following year of complications of a staph infection, which she contracted after having been diagnosed with leukemia.[12] Graver had two sons from previous marriages.[1]

Graver's memoir Making Movies with Orson Welles, co-written by Andrew J. Rausch, was published posthumously by Scarecrow Press in 2008.[13]

Select filmography

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Year Title Cinematographer Editor Director Screenwriter Notes
1966 The Embracers No No Yes Yes Alternate title: The Great Dream
1968 The Kill Yes No Yes Yes Short film
1969 The Mighty Gorga Yes Yes No No
1969 The Fabulous Bastard from Chicago Yes Yes No No
1969 Satan's Sadists Yes Yes No No
1969 One Million AC/DC Yes No No No Written by Ed Wood
1970 Horror of the Blood Monsters Yes No No No Uncredited
1970 Blood Mania Yes No No No
1970 The Hard Road Yes No Yes No
1971 Dracula vs. Frankenstein Yes No No No
1971 London Yes No No No Short film written and directed by Orson Welles
1973 Midnight Intruders Yes No Yes Yes
1973 And When She Was Bad... No No Yes Yes
1973 Bummer Yes No No No
1973 F for Fake Yes No No No Documentary film
Co-credit with François Reichenbach
1973 Invasion of the Bee Girls Yes No No No
1974 A Woman Under the Influence Yes No No No Additional camerawork[7]
1976 Black Heat Yes No No No
1976 Woman in the Rain Yes No No No
1976 Charlie Siringo Yes No No No Television film
1977 Moonshine County Express Yes No No No
1977 Grand Theft Auto Yes No No No
1978 Doctor Dracula Yes No No No
1978 The Toolbox Murders Yes No No No
1978 Sunset Cove Yes No No No
1978 Deathsport Yes No No No
1978 Death Dimension Yes No No No Also producer
1978 The One Man Jury Yes No No No
1978 Filming Othello Yes No No No Documentary film
1979 Smokey and the Hotwire Gang Yes No No No
1979 Sunnyside Yes No No No
1979 The Glove Yes No No No
1980 Scout's Honor Yes No No No Television film
1980 The Attic Yes No No No
1981 Texas Lighting Yes No Yes Yes
1981 Hollywood High Part II Yes No No No
1981 Smokey Bites the Dust Yes No No No
1982 Trick or Treats Yes Yes Yes Yes
1982 Eating Raoul Yes No No No Second unit cinematographer[7]
1982 Homework No No No Yes Second unit director[7]
1982 The Sword and the Sorcerer Yes No No No Additional cinematography[7]
1983 Lost Yes No No No
1983 Mortuary Yes No No No
1984 Chattanooga Choo Choo Yes No No No
1984 They're Playing with Fire Yes No No No
1987 Party Camp No No Yes No
1987 Moon in Scorpio Yes No Yes No
1988 Twisted Nightmare Yes No No No
1989 Always Yes No No No Additional cinematography (Montana unit)[7]
1991 Ted & Venus Yes No No No Second unit cinematographer[7]
1992 Roots of Evil No No Yes No
2018 The Other Side of the Wind Yes No No No Shot between 1970 and 1976

Publications

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  • Graver, Gary (2008). Making Movies With Orson Welles. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-810-88229-4.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "DP Gary Graver dies at 68; worked for Welles, Corman". The Hollywood Reporter. Associated Press. November 20, 2006. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Kernes, Mark (November 27, 2006). "Commentary: Giving Gary Graver His Due". AVN. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (accessed March 12, 2018), Gary F Graver in household of Raleigh F Graver, Tract 30, Portland, Portland City Election Precinct 331, Multnomah, Oregon, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 37-440, sheet 9A, line 21, family 147, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 3392.
  4. ^ a b Nelson, Valerie J. (November 19, 2006). "Gary Graver, 68; maverick cinematographer tried to complete Orson Welles' final film". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Biography". Gary Graver Official Site. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c Bergan, Ronald (December 8, 2006). "Obituary: Gary Graver". The Guardian. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Gary Graver Filmography". American Film Institute Catalog. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Karp, Josh (May, 2015) "Orson's Last Stand" Vanity Fair, pages 143–151; 168–171.
  9. ^ Kehr, Dave (July 22, 2003). "Objection Quashes Sale of Welles's 'Kane' Oscar". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  10. ^ "Trick or Treats Cast and Crew". AllMovie. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  11. ^ "Gary Graver, 68, Orson Welles's Collaborator, Dies". The New York Times. Associated Press. November 21, 2006. Retrieved March 10, 2018. (subscription required)
  12. ^ "Jillian Kesner-Graves obituary". Jilliankesner.com. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  13. ^ Graver, Gary (2008). Making Movies With Orson Welles. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-810-88229-4.
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