Bill Butler, Cinematographer on 'Jaws,' Dead at 101
etonline.com, died Wednesday.In addition to the '70s cult classic, Butler also worked as d.p. on several box office hits of the era, including -- which earned him an Oscar nom — Francis Ford Coppola’s, and , as well as the Bill Murray comedy, .
Butler was also credited for his work in several of the franchise films, though not the original. Butler was also the cinematographer for and, as well as the Neil Simon adaptation,, 1988's , musical drama,,, and the 1997 murder mystery film, starring Tim Roth and Renee Zellweger.He later worked on Bill Paxton's 2001 crime drama , and the Chevy Chase's in 2006.On the TV side, Butler earned an Emmy for shooting the telepic, , in 1977, and again in 1984 for his work on an adaptation of , starring Ann-Margret and Treat Williams.
He was also nominated the year prior for the ABC miniseries, .Butler got his start in the entertainment industry as an engineer at a radio station in Gary, Indiana, and would go on to help design and build the first television stations at ABC’s Chicago affiliate and later at WGN-TV.
While there, Butler worked on a documentary that led to the commutation of an Illinois death row inmate's sentence. His first credit on a narrative feature, however, came on Philip Kaufman’s 1967 film, , starring Jon Voight.While on the Universal lot working for Kaufman, Butler met a young Steven Spielberg, and ended up as d.p.
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