Gary Graver

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title: "Gary Graver" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1938-births", "2006-deaths", "american-cinematographers", "film-directors-from-oregon", "american-film-editors", "american-pornographic-film-directors", "artists-from-portland,-oregon", "deaths-from-cancer-in-california", "filmmakers-from-portland,-oregon", "grant-high-school-(portland,-oregon)-alumni", "screenwriters-from-oregon", "writers-from-portland,-oregon", "film-producers-from-oregon", "20th-century-american-screenwriters", "vietnam-war-photographers", "united-states-navy-personnel-of-the-vietnam-war"] description: "American filmmaker (1938–2006)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Graver" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American filmmaker (1938–2006) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Gary Graver
image	Gary_Graver_portrait.jpg
birth_date	July 20, 1938
birth_place	Portland, Oregon, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.
other_names	Robert McCallum
education	Grant High School
occupation
spouse	{{plainlist
* {{marriage	Connie Nelson
* {{marriage	April Silva
children	2
::

| name = Gary Graver | image = Gary_Graver_portrait.jpg | caption = | birth_date = July 20, 1938 | birth_place = Portland, Oregon, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Rancho Mirage, California, U.S. | other_names= Robert McCallum | education = Grant High School | occupation = | spouse = {{plainlist|

| children= 2

Gary Foss Graver (July 20, 1938 – November 16, 2006) was an American film director, editor, screenwriter and cinematographer. He was a prolific filmmaker, working in various roles on over 300 films, 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.

Early life

Graver was born July 20, 1938, in Portland, Oregon, to Raleigh and Frances Graver. His father was a native Oregonian, while his mother was born in Washington state. where he attended Grant High School. He also acted in stage productions for the Portland Civic Theatre.

At age 20, Graver moved to Hollywood to become an actor, and studied acting with Lee J. Cobb and Lucille Ball. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in the early 1960s and quickly joined the Navy instead. He was assigned to a combat camera group and trained as a professional cameraman while touring in Vietnam, the Philippines, and Japan.

Career

Feature films

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Orson_Welles_in_Who's_Out_There?_(1973).jpg" caption="59}}"] ::

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. 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).

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. Journalist Josh Karp reported:

::quote

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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 Graver co-shot with French cinematographer François Reichenbach; and Filming Othello (1978).

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.

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." 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). The following year, Graver contributed additional camerawork on John Cassavetes's A Woman Under the Influence (1974). In 1977, he served as cinematographer for Ron Howard's Grand Theft Auto, followed by the cult horror film The Toolbox Murders (1978).

In 1982, Graver wrote, directed, edited, and produced the slasher film Trick or Treats, 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). The following year, Graver provided additional cinematography on Steven Spielberg's Always (1989), working on the film's Montana unit.

Adult films

Throughout his career in mainstream cinema, Graver also worked as a writer and director of pornographic films, often credited as Robert McCallum.

Death

Graver died on November 16, 2006, at his home in Rancho Mirage, California after a lengthy battle with cancer. 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. Graver had two sons from previous marriages.

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

Select filmography

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Cinematographer	Editor	Director	Screenwriter	Notes
1966	The Embracers					Alternate title: The Great Dream
1968	The Kill					Short film
1969	The Mighty Gorga
1969	The Fabulous Bastard from Chicago
1969	Satan's Sadists
1969	One Million AC/DC					Written by Ed Wood
1970	Horror of the Blood Monsters					Uncredited
1970	Blood Mania
1970	The Hard Road
1971	Dracula vs. Frankenstein
1971	London					Short film written and directed by Orson Welles
1973	Who's Out There					59}}
1973	Midnight Intruders
1973	And When She Was Bad...
1973	Bummer
1973	F for Fake					Documentary film
Co-credit with François Reichenbach
1973	Invasion of the Bee Girls
1974	A Woman Under the Influence					Additional camerawork
1976	Black Heat
1976	*Woman in the Rain *
1976	Charlie Siringo					Television film
1977	Moonshine County Express
1977	Grand Theft Auto
1978	Doctor Dracula
1978	The Toolbox Murders
1978	Sunset Cove
1978	Deathsport
1978	Death Dimension					Also producer
1978	The One Man Jury
1978	Filming Othello					Documentary film
1979	Smokey and the Hotwire Gang
1979	Sunnyside
1979	The Glove
1980	Scout's Honor					Television film
1980	The Attic
1981	Texas Lighting
1981	Hollywood High Part II
1981	Smokey Bites the Dust
1982	Trick or Treats
1982	Eating Raoul					work=American Film Institute Catalog
1982	Homework					Second unit director
1982	The Sword and the Sorcerer					Additional cinematography
1983	Lost
1983	Mortuary
1984	Chattanooga Choo Choo
1984	They're Playing with Fire
1987	Party Camp
1987	Moon in Scorpio
1988	Twisted Nightmare
1989	Always					Additional cinematography (Montana unit)
1991	Ted & Venus					Second unit cinematographer
1992	Roots of Evil
2018	The Other Side of the Wind					Shot between 1970 and 1976
::

Publications

References

References

1. "[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRTB-NZL 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.
2. Nelson, Valerie J.. (November 19, 2006). "Gary Graver, 68; maverick cinematographer tried to complete Orson Welles' final film". [[Los Angeles Times]].
3. "Biography". Gary Graver Official Site.
4. Bergan, Ronald. (December 8, 2006). "Obituary: Gary Graver". [[The Guardian]].
5. Karp, Josh (May, 2015) "Orson's Last Stand" ''Vanity Fair'', pages 143–151; 168–171.
6. (November 20, 2006). "DP Gary Graver dies at 68; worked for Welles, Corman". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
7. Kehr, Dave. (July 22, 2003). "Objection Quashes Sale of Welles's 'Kane' Oscar". [[The New York Times]].
8. "Trick or Treats Cast and Crew". [[AllMovie]].
9. Kernes, Mark. (November 27, 2006). "Commentary: Giving Gary Graver His Due". [[AVN (magazine).
10. (November 21, 2006). "Gary Graver, 68, Orson Welles's Collaborator, Dies". [[The New York Times]].
11. "Jillian Kesner-Graves obituary". Jilliankesner.com.
12. Graver, Gary. (2008). "Making Movies With Orson Welles". Scarecrow Press.
13. "Gary Graver Filmography". [[American Film Institute.

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