Gary Graver

Gary Foss Graver (July 20, 1938 – November 16, 2006)[1] was an American film director, editor, screenwriter, 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.

Gary Graver
Born	July 20, 1938 Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Died	November 16, 2006(2006-11-16) (aged 68) Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.
Other names	Robert McCallum
Education	Grant High School
Occupation	Film director, cinematographer
Spouse(s)	Andrea Ellestad ( m. 1960) April Silva ​ ( m. 1974; div. 1976) Connie Nelson ​ ( m. 1969; div. 1972) Jillian Kesner-Graver ​ ( m. 1981; his death 2006)
Children	2

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

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

Feature films

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 is for Fake (1973) 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] He also 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

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

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. She was 58 years old.[12][13] 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.[14]

Select filmography

Year	Title	Contribution	Notes
1966	The Embracers	Director/writer
1968	The Kill	Director/writer/cinematographer	Short film
1969	The Mighty Gorga	Cinematographer/editor
1969	The Fabulous Bastard from Chicago	Cinematographer/editor
1969	Satan's Sadists	Cinematographer/editor
1969	One Million AC/DC	Cinematographer	Written by Ed Wood.
1970	Horror of the Blood Monsters	Cinematographer	Uncredited
1970	Blood Mania	Cinematographer
1970	The Hard Road	Director/cinematographer
1971	Dracula vs. Frankenstein	Cinematographer
1971	London	Cinematographer	Short film written and directed by Orson Welles
1973	Midnight Intruders	Director/writer/cinematographer
1973	And When She Was Bad...	Director/writer
1973	Bummer	Cinematographer
1973	F for Fake	Cinematographer	Documentary film Co-credit with François Reichenbach
1973	Invasion of the Bee Girls	Cinematographer
1974	A Woman Under the Influence	Additional camerawork[7]
1976	Black Heat	Cinematographer
1976	Woman in the Rain	Cinematographer
1976	Charlie Siringo	Cinematographer	Television film
1977	Moonshine County Express	Cinematographer
1977	Grand Theft Auto	Cinematographer
1978	Doctor Dracula	Cinematographer
1978	The Toolbox Murders	Cinematographer
1978	Sunset Cove	Cinematographer
1978	Deathsport	Cinematographer
1978	Death Dimension	Producer/cinematographer
1978	The One Man Jury	Cinematographer
1979	Smokey and the Hotwire Gang	Cinematographer
1979	Sunnyside	Cinematographer
1979	The Glove	Cinematographer
1979	Filming Othello	Cinematographer	Documentary film
1980	Scout's Honor	Cinematographer	Television film
1980	The Attic	Cinematographer
1981	Texas Lighting	Director/writer
1981	Hollywood High Part II	Cinematographer
1981	Smokey Bites the Dust	Cinematographer
1982	Trick or Treats	Director/writer/editor
1982	Eating Raoul	Second unit cinematographer[7]
1982	Homework	Second unit director[7]
1982	The Sword and the Sorcerer	Additional cinematography[7]
1983	Lost	Cinematographer
1983	Mortuary	Cinematographer
1984	Chattanooga Choo Choo	Cinematographer
1984	They're Playing with Fire	Cinematographer
1987	Party Camp	Director
1987	Moon in Scorpio	Director
1988	Twisted Nightmare	Cinematographer
1989	Always	Additional cinematography (Montana unit)[7]
1991	Ted & Venus	Second unit cinematographer[7]
1992	Roots of Evil	Director
2018	The Other Side of the Wind	Cinematographer	Shot between 1970 and 1976

Publications

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

References

1. Associated Press (November 20, 2006). "DP Gary Graver dies at 68; worked for Welles, Corman". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
2. Kernes, Mark (November 27, 2006). "Commentary: Giving Gary Graver His Due". AVN. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
3. "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. 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. "Biography". Gary Graver Official Site. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
6. Bergan, Ronald (December 8, 2006). "Obituary: Gary Graver". The Guardian. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
7. "Gary Graver Filmography". American Film Institute Catalog. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
8. 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. Associated Press (November 21, 2006). "Gary Graver, 68, Orson Welles's Collaborator, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved March 10, 2018. (subscription required)
12. "Jillian Kesner-Graves obituary". Jilliankesner.com. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
13. "WellesNet: Gary Graver". WellesNet.com. December 8, 2006. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
14. Graver, Gary (2008). Making Movies With Orson Welles. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-810-88229-4.

External links

• Official homepage
• Gary Graver on IMDb
• Gary Graver Profile
• Gary Graver at AllMovie
• Gary Graver at Wellesnet
• Unhappy with the way he felt producers sometimes butchered his work, in 2004 Graver made a documentary outlining his grievances. The entire documentary was posted on YouTube in several parts: A Gary Graver Movie on YouTube.