Haskell Wexler
Encyclopedia
Haskell Wexler, A.S.C.
(born February 6, 1922) is an American cinematographer
, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the International Cinematographers Guild.
, Joyce (Isaacs), and Yale. He attended the progressive Francis Parker School, where he was best friends with Barney Rosset
.
After a year of college at the University of California, Berkeley
and a tour in the United States Merchant Marine
during World War II
, Wexler decided to become a filmmaker.
Based in Chicago, Wexler made many documentaries, including The Living City, which won an Academy Award.
such as 1959's The Savage Eye
; television's The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
; and TV commercials. (He would later found Wexler-Hall, a television commercial production company, with Conrad Hall
.)
In 1963, Wexler served as the cinematographer on his first big-budget film, Elia Kazan
's America, America
. The film had a stunning look, and Kazan was nominated for a Best Director
Academy Award
. Wexler worked steadily in Hollywood thereafter. Wexler was cinematographer of Mike Nichols
' screen version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
(1966), for which he won the last Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Black & White)
.
He won a second Oscar for Bound for Glory (1976), a biography of Woody Guthrie
(whom Wexler had met during his time in the Merchant Marine). Bound for Glory was one of the earliest feature films in which the cinematographer used the steadicam
, in a famous sequence that also incorporated a crane shot
. Wexler was also credited as additional cinematographer on Days of Heaven
(1978), which won a Best Cinematography Oscar for Nestor Almendros
. Wexler was also featured on the soundtrack of the film Underground
, recorded on Folkways Records
in 1976.
He has worked on documentaries throughout his career. The 1980 documentary Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang
earned an Emmy Award
; Interview with My Lai Veterans won an Academy Award. His most recent documentaries include Bus Riders' Union, Who Needs Sleep, Good Kurds, Bad Kurds, Tell Them Who You Are and Bringing King to China
.
Wexler has also directed fictional movies. Medium Cool
(1969), a film written by Wexler and shot in the cinéma vérité
style, is studied by film students all over the world for its breakthrough form. It influenced more than a generation of filmmakers. The making of Medium Cool was the subject of a BBC
documentary, Look Out Haskell, It's Real: The Making of Medium Cool.
Produced by Lucasfilm
, Wexler's film Latino
was chosen for the 1985 Cannes Film Festival
. He both wrote and directed the work. Another directing project was From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks, an intimate exploration of the life and times of Harry Bridges
, an extraordinary labor leader and social visionary described as "a hero or the devil incarnate, it all depends on your point of view." http://www.theharrybridgesproject.org/film.html
In 1988, Wexler won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography
for the John Sayles
film Matewan
, for which he was also nominated for an Academy Award. His work with Billy Crystal
in the 2001 HBO film 61* was nominated for an Emmy.
He is the step-uncle
of actresses Daryl Hannah
and Page Hannah
.
Mark Jeffrey due to problems with his Guild membership)
American Society of Cinematographers
The American Society of Cinematographers is an educational, cultural, and professional organization. It is not a labor union, and it is not a guild. Membership is by invitation and is extended only to directors of photography and special effects experts with distinguished credits in the film...
(born February 6, 1922) is an American cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the International Cinematographers Guild.
Early life and education
Wexler was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, in 1926 (according to IMDB). His parents were Simon and Lottie Wexler, whose children included JerroldJerrold Wexler
Jerrold Wexler was a noted American businessman. He was the brother of cinematographer Haskell Wexler and the stepfather of actress Daryl Hannah. Wexler was born in Chicago and attended Northwestern University....
, Joyce (Isaacs), and Yale. He attended the progressive Francis Parker School, where he was best friends with Barney Rosset
Barney Rosset
Barnet Lee Rosset, Jr. is the former owner of the publishing house Grove Press, and publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Evergreen Review. He led a successful legal battle to publish the uncensored version of D. H. Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterley's Lover, and later was the American...
.
After a year of college at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
and a tour in the United States Merchant Marine
United States Merchant Marine
The United States Merchant Marine refers to the fleet of U.S. civilian-owned merchant vessels, operated by either the government or the private sector, that engage in commerce or transportation of goods and services in and out of the navigable waters of the United States. The Merchant Marine is...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Wexler decided to become a filmmaker.
Based in Chicago, Wexler made many documentaries, including The Living City, which won an Academy Award.
Film career
Wexler briefly made industrial films in Chicago, then in 1947 became an assistant cameraman. Wexler worked on documentary features and shorts; low-budget docu-dramasDocudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
such as 1959's The Savage Eye
The Savage Eye
The Savage Eye is a "dramatized documentary" film that superposes a dramatic narration of the life of a divorced woman with documentary camera footage of an unspecified 1950s city. In a 1960 review, A. H...
; television's The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 to September 3, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television where it continued its success, running on both radio and TV for a couple of years...
; and TV commercials. (He would later found Wexler-Hall, a television commercial production company, with Conrad Hall
Conrad Hall
Conrad Lafcadio Hall, ASC was an American cinematographer from Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia. Named after writers Joseph Conrad and Lafcadio Hearn, he was best known for photographing films such as In Cold Blood, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, American Beauty, and Road to...
.)
In 1963, Wexler served as the cinematographer on his first big-budget film, Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
's America, America
America, America
America, America is a 1963 American dramatic film directed, produced and written by Elia Kazan, from his own book.-Plot:...
. The film had a stunning look, and Kazan was nominated for a Best Director
Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
. Wexler worked steadily in Hollywood thereafter. Wexler was cinematographer of Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
' screen version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1966 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is an adaptation of the play of the same title by Edward Albee...
(1966), for which he won the last Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Black & White)
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
.
He won a second Oscar for Bound for Glory (1976), a biography of Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
(whom Wexler had met during his time in the Merchant Marine). Bound for Glory was one of the earliest feature films in which the cinematographer used the steadicam
Steadicam
A Steadicam is a stabilizing mount for a motion picture camera that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement, allowing a smooth shot even when moving quickly over an uneven surface...
, in a famous sequence that also incorporated a crane shot
Crane shot
In filmmaking and video production a crane shot is a shot taken by a camera on a crane. The most obvious uses are to view the actors from above or to move up and away from them, a common way of ending a movie. Some filmmakers like to have the camera on a boom arm just to make it easier to move...
. Wexler was also credited as additional cinematographer on Days of Heaven
Days of Heaven
Days of Heaven is a 1978 American romantic drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard and Linda Manz. Set in the early 20th century, it tells the story of two poor lovers, Bill and Abby, as they travel to the Texas Panhandle to harvest...
(1978), which won a Best Cinematography Oscar for Nestor Almendros
Néstor Almendros
Néstor Almendros, ASC was an Oscar winning Spanish cinematographer. One of the highest appraised contemporary cinematographers, "Almendros was an artist of deep integrity, who believed the most beautiful light was natural light...he will always be remembered as a cinematographer of absolute...
. Wexler was also featured on the soundtrack of the film Underground
Underground (documentary film)
Underground is a 1976 documentary film about the Weathermen, founded as a militant faction of the Students for a Democratic Society , who fought to overthrow the U.S. government during the 1960s and 1970’s. The film consists of interviews with members of the group after they went underground and...
, recorded on Folkways Records
Folkways Records
Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
in 1976.
He has worked on documentaries throughout his career. The 1980 documentary Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang
Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang
Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang is a 1980 political documentary film produced and directed by Jack Willis and Saul Landau, written by Jack Willis and Penny Bernstein, narrated by Penny Bernstein with cinematography by Zack Krieger and Haskell Wexler....
earned an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
; Interview with My Lai Veterans won an Academy Award. His most recent documentaries include Bus Riders' Union, Who Needs Sleep, Good Kurds, Bad Kurds, Tell Them Who You Are and Bringing King to China
Bringing King to China
Bringing King to China is a 2011 documentary film by Kevin McKiernan. The cinematographers include three-time Oscar-winner Haskell Wexler.The documentary is "a father's 'love letter' to his adult daughter, a young American woman struggling to bring Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream of nonviolence to...
.
Wexler has also directed fictional movies. Medium Cool
Medium Cool
Medium Cool is an American film written and directed by Haskell Wexler and starring Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz, Marianna Hill and Harold Blankenship. It takes place in Chicago in the summer of 1968...
(1969), a film written by Wexler and shot in the cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.There are subtle yet...
style, is studied by film students all over the world for its breakthrough form. It influenced more than a generation of filmmakers. The making of Medium Cool was the subject of a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary, Look Out Haskell, It's Real: The Making of Medium Cool.
Produced by Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm Limited is an American film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in San Francisco, California. Lucas is the company's current chairman and CEO, and Micheline Chau is the president and COO....
, Wexler's film Latino
Latino (film)
Latino is a 1985 American war film directed by Haskell Wexler. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.-Summary:...
was chosen for the 1985 Cannes Film Festival
1985 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Miloš Forman *Claude Imbert *Edwin Zbonek *Francis Veber *Jorge Amado *Mauro Bolognini *Michel Perez *Mo Rothmann *Néstor Almendros *Sarah Miles...
. He both wrote and directed the work. Another directing project was From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks, an intimate exploration of the life and times of Harry Bridges
Harry Bridges
Harry Bridges was an Australian-American union leader, in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union , a longshore and warehouse workers' union on the West Coast, Hawaii and Alaska which he helped form and led for over 40 years...
, an extraordinary labor leader and social visionary described as "a hero or the devil incarnate, it all depends on your point of view." http://www.theharrybridgesproject.org/film.html
In 1988, Wexler won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography
Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography
The Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography is one of the annual awards given by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers.- 1980s :* 1986: Toyomichi Kurita – Trouble in Mind...
for the John Sayles
John Sayles
John Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter and author.-Early life:Sayles was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Mary , a teacher, and Donald John Sayles, a school administrator. He was raised Catholic and took to labeling himself "a Catholic atheist"...
film Matewan
Matewan
Matewan is an American drama film written and directed by John Sayles, illustrating the events of a coal mine-workers' strike and attempt to unionize in 1920 in Matewan, a small town in the hills of West Virginia....
, for which he was also nominated for an Academy Award. His work with Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
in the 2001 HBO film 61* was nominated for an Emmy.
Legacy and honors (career awards)
- In 1993, Wexler won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of CinematographersAmerican Society of CinematographersThe American Society of Cinematographers is an educational, cultural, and professional organization. It is not a labor union, and it is not a guild. Membership is by invitation and is extended only to directors of photography and special effects experts with distinguished credits in the film...
, the first active cameraman to be awarded. - In 1996 he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of FameHollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
, the first cinematographer in 35 years to be so honored. - In 2005, Wexler was the subject of a documentary, Tell Them Who You Are, directed by his son, Mark Wexler.
- In 2007, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Independent Documentary Association and the same from the Society of Operating CameramenSociety of Operating CameramenFounded in 1978 under the name Society of Operating Cameramen, the SOC was incorporated in 1981 in the state of California as a nonprofit organization. Its primary mission is to advance the art, craft and creative contribution of the camera operator in the motion picture and television industries...
.
He is the step-uncle
Uncle
An uncle is a type of familial relationship.Uncle may also refer to:* Uncle , by J. P. Martin* U.N.C.L.E., a fictional organization in the TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E....
of actresses Daryl Hannah
Daryl Hannah
Daryl Christine Hannah is an American film actress. After making her screen debut in 1978, Hannah starred in a number of Hollywood films throughout the 1980s, notably Blade Runner, Splash, Wall Street and Roxanne and Kill Bill.-Early life:Hannah was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Susan...
and Page Hannah
Page Hannah
Page Hannah is an American television and film actress. She is married to Lou Adler and the couple have four sons, Manny, Ike, Pablo, and Oscar. She is the sister of actress Daryl Hannah...
.
Selected filmography
- Stakeout on Dope StreetStakeout on Dope StreetStakeout on Dope Street is a 1958 film by Irvin Kershner. It is about three teenagers who inadvertently get themselves involved in a drug ring. It was the directorial debut of Kershner.-Synopsis:...
, 1958 (credited as
Mark Jeffrey due to problems with his Guild membership)
- The Savage EyeThe Savage EyeThe Savage Eye is a "dramatized documentary" film that superposes a dramatic narration of the life of a divorced woman with documentary camera footage of an unspecified 1950s city. In a 1960 review, A. H...
, 1960 - Hoodlum PriestHoodlum Priest (film)Hoodlum Priest is a 1961 film by Irvin Kershner, based on the life of Father Charles Clark of St. Louis, who ministered to street gangs. It was entered into the 1961 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Don Murray - Father Charles Dismas Clark...
, 1961 - Angel BabyAngel Baby (1961 film)Angel Baby is a 1961 film starring Salome Jens in the title role, Mercedes McCambridge, and George Hamilton. Burt Reynolds, in his motion picture debut, plays Hoke Adams...
, 1961 - Face in the Rain, 1963
- America, AmericaAmerica, AmericaAmerica, America is a 1963 American dramatic film directed, produced and written by Elia Kazan, from his own book.-Plot:...
, 1963
- The Best ManThe Best Man (1964 film)The Best Man is a 1964 film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner with a screenplay by Gore Vidal based on his play of the same title. Starring Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson, and Lee Tracy, the film details the seamy political maneuverings behind the nomination of a presidential candidate...
, 1964 - The Loved OneThe Loved One (film)The Loved One is a 1965 black comedy film about the funeral business in Los Angeles, which is based on The Loved One: An Anglo-American Tragedy , a short satirical novel by Evelyn Waugh...
, 1965 (also producer) - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1966 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is an adaptation of the play of the same title by Edward Albee...
, 1966 - In the Heat of the Night, 1967
- The Thomas Crown AffairThe Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 film by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"...
, 1968 - Medium CoolMedium CoolMedium Cool is an American film written and directed by Haskell Wexler and starring Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz, Marianna Hill and Harold Blankenship. It takes place in Chicago in the summer of 1968...
, 1969 (also director and screenwriter) - American GraffitiAmerican GraffitiAmerican Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
, 1973
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey....
, 1975 - Bound for Glory, 1976
- Days of HeavenDays of HeavenDays of Heaven is a 1978 American romantic drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard and Linda Manz. Set in the early 20th century, it tells the story of two poor lovers, Bill and Abby, as they travel to the Texas Panhandle to harvest...
, 1978 - MatewanMatewanMatewan is an American drama film written and directed by John Sayles, illustrating the events of a coal mine-workers' strike and attempt to unionize in 1920 in Matewan, a small town in the hills of West Virginia....
, 1987 - BlazeBlaze (film)Blaze is a 1989 film written and directed by Ron Shelton. Based on the 1974 memoir Blaze Starr: My Life as Told to Huey Perry by Blaze Starr and Huey Perry, the film stars Paul Newman as Earl Long and Lolita Davidovich as Blaze Starr, with Starr herself appearing in a cameo.-Plot:The movie tells...
, 1989 - The Secret of Roan InishThe Secret of Roan InishThe Secret of Roan Inish is an American independent film written and directed by John Sayles, and released in 1994. It's based on the novel The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry, by Rosalie K. Fry....
, 1994 - Canadian BaconCanadian baconCanadian bacon can mean:* Canadian bacon, a US name for two different pork products - back bacon and a smoked ham* Canadian Bacon, a 1995 comedy film* Canadian Bacon , a peak in the US state of Washington...
, 1995 - Mulholland FallsMulholland FallsMulholland Falls is a 1996 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Lee Tamahori and written by Pete Dexter. The drama features Andrew McCarthy, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Connelly, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Melanie Griffith, Treat Williams, and John Malkovich.Nolte plays the...
, 1996
External links
- Hasell Wexler, ASC, Focuses on the Making of Matewan
- John Patterson, "Through a lens darkly", The Guardian, interview, 2 June 2006
- Underground Album Details at Smithsonian FolkwaysSmithsonian FolkwaysSmithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was founded in 1987 after the family of Moses Asch, founder of Folkways...