George Butler is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 photographer and documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

maker.

After meeting John Kerry

John Kerry

John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

 in 1964 he worked with him on the book The New Soldier

The New Soldier

The New Soldier was published as both a hard and soft cover book in October, 1971, by Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Principally a photographic essay accompanied by text, the work was edited by David Thorne and George Butler, with a section written by John Kerry...

published in 1971.

On a photo assignment to cover the IFBB Mr. Universe contest in Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

 in 1972, Butler met Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....

. His photographs were used to illustrate Charles Gaines

Charles Gaines

Charles L. Gaines is an American writer and outdoorsman, notable for his works on fly fishing, his role in the development of paintball, and his photo-essay Pumping Iron, about the bodybuilding culture of the 1970s, which was later adapted into a documentary film of the same name.-Early...

' 1974 essay "Pumping Iron", on which Butler later based his first documentary feature, Pumping Iron

Pumping Iron

Pumping Iron is a 1977 docudrama about the world of bodybuilding, focusing on the 1975 IFBB Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia competitions and the 100 days leading up to them. The film was inspired by a book of the same name, written by Charles Gaines and George Butler...

(1977). The film showcased Schwarzenegger and other bodybuilders that is credited with starting Schwarzenegger's film career. Butler later directed a sequel, also based on Gaines' writing, called Pumping Iron II: The Women

Pumping Iron II: The Women

Pumping Iron II: The Women is a documentary film about female bodybuilding, focusing on several women as they prepare for and compete in the 1983 Caesars World Cup....

(1985). It featured Bev Francis

Bev Francis

Bev Francis is a retired powerlifter and female bodybuilder from Australia, where she was a national shot put champion. She is also a writer, body building judge and owns a gym in Syosset, New York, in the United States where she now lives.-Early life and education:Francis was born 15 February...

, Rachel McLish

Rachel McLish

Rachel McLish née Raquel Livia Elizondo is an American female bodybuilding champion, actress and author.-Early life and education:...

, and several other women.

Butler initially worked sparingly as a documentary filmmaker making 3 films between 1977 and 1999. However, in recent years he has started to work more regularly. In 2000, he made The Endurance

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition

The Endurance is a 2000 documentary film directed by George Butler about Ernest Shackleton's failed Antarctic expedition in 1914. The Endurance was the name of the ship of Shackleton's expedition.-Plot:...

a 97 minute documentary about Ernest Shackleton's

Ernest Shackleton

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...

 failed Antarctic expedition in 1914. The film was well received by critics, and was nominated for and won several awards. The following year, Butler released a documentary, Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure, which recounts the crew's heroism. Narrated by Kevin Spacey

Kevin Spacey

Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...

, the film is 57 minutes shorter than The Endurance.

In 2004, Butler again collaborated with John Kerry this time to make the documentary Going Upriver. Going Upriver is about Kerry's Vietnam

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 experiences, his activity in the peace movement following his return from Vietnam, and his current political views and theories. It includes footage from the early 1970s of Kerry along with current interviews of Kerry and a host of other veterans.

Butler's most recent documentary is Roving Mars

Roving Mars

Roving Mars is an IMAX documentary film about the development, launch, and operation of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The film uses few actual photographs from Mars, opting to use computer generated animation based on the photographs and data from the rovers and other Mars...

(2006), a 40 min. documentary about the twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit

Spirit rover

Spirit, MER-A , is a robotic rover on Mars, active from 2004 to 2010. It was one of two rovers of NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity , landed on the other side of the planet...

 and Opportunity

Opportunity rover

Opportunity, MER-B , is a robotic rover on the planet Mars, active since 2004. It is the remaining rover in NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission...

, which were launched by NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 in 2004.

On December 31, 2008, Butler's close friend Charlie Rose

Charlie Rose

Charles Peete "Charlie" Rose, Jr. is an American television talk show host and journalist. Since 1991 he has hosted Charlie Rose, an interview show distributed nationally by PBS since 1993...

 included a segment on Butler in his annual New Year's Eve tribute to recently deceased notables on PBS. However, Butler was not deceased; another notable George Butler, a record producer, was the one who had died.

Filmography

• Pumping Iron
  Pumping Iron
  Pumping Iron is a 1977 docudrama about the world of bodybuilding, focusing on the 1975 IFBB Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia competitions and the 100 days leading up to them. The film was inspired by a book of the same name, written by Charles Gaines and George Butler...
  
  1977
• Pumping Iron II: The Women
  Pumping Iron II: The Women
  Pumping Iron II: The Women is a documentary film about female bodybuilding, focusing on several women as they prepare for and compete in the 1983 Caesars World Cup....
  
  1985
• In the Blood 1989
• The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
  The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
  The Endurance is a 2000 documentary film directed by George Butler about Ernest Shackleton's failed Antarctic expedition in 1914. The Endurance was the name of the ship of Shackleton's expedition.-Plot:...
  
  2000
• Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure
  Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure
  Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure is an IMAX film about the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton between 1914 and 1917. Directed by George Butler, the film was released in February 2001 and was narrated by Kevin Spacey...
  
  2001
• Going Upriver
  Going Upriver
  Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry is a documentary film on U.S. Senator John Kerry's military service during the Vietnam War and his subsequent participation in the peace movement...
  
  2004
• Roving Mars
  Roving Mars
  Roving Mars is an IMAX documentary film about the development, launch, and operation of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The film uses few actual photographs from Mars, opting to use computer generated animation based on the photographs and data from the rovers and other Mars...
  
  2006

External links