It was two days until his 102nd birthday. Bill Butler, cinematographer of cult films, has died

On April 7, Bill Butler would have celebrated his 102nd birthday – he died two days earlier, on Wednesday evening. Information about his death was provided by the American Society of Cinematographers, of which he was the oldest member. In 2003, he received an award for professional achievements, and it’s no wonder – Butler was behind the camera of many productions that have permanently entered the history of American cinematography. He has worked with such directors as Milos Forman and the creator of The Omen, Wiliam Friedkin.

Bill Butler is dead. He was a Hollywood legend

Bill Butler was born in 1921 in Colorado. He earned an engineering degree in college and started working in show business with a small local radio station in Indiana. Later, he got a job at the first ABC television stations. He took the next steps in the world of film thanks to the fact that he met the creator of “The French Connection” and “The Exorcist”, William Friedkin. It was with him that he made his first documentary “The People vs. Paul Crump”. Friedkin later introduced Butler to director Francis Ford Coppola, and they worked together on Rain People in 1969.

Butler had already worked with Spielberg on his early film, Something Evil, in 1972. They met again three years later on the set of the iconic “Jaws”. There, Butler had the opportunity to put his engineering degree to good use: he invented various mechanisms that allowed him to conveniently shoot land and water scenes. One of his ideas was a waterproof raft from a dinghy for a camera, thanks to which he was able to innovatively film the famous shark shots. 1975 was a fruitful year for him – it was then that he became the cinematographer of the Oscar-winning “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. In 1978, he directed “Omen II” and “Grease”.

He also collaborated for a long time and fruitfully with Sylvester Stallon on three parts of the cult films from the “Rocky” series. His last film was the 2009 film “Evil Angel” about the demonic spirit of Lilith – Adam’s first wife. The operator had five daughters and a wife, Iris.