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."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. His father was a native Oregonian, while his mother was born in Washington state. Graver was raised in Portland, where he attended Grant High School. As a teenager, he produced and starred in his own radio show, and built a movie theatre in his parents' basement where he showed his own 16 mm films. 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

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:Karp, Josh (May, 2015) "Orson's Last Stand" Vanity Fair, pages 143–151; 168–171.

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. Graver's work in the adult film industry resulted in more than 135 films including Unthinkable, which won the AVN Award for Best All-Sex Video in 1985. Graver was later inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame for his contributions to the adult film industry.

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 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 Short film produced for NASA by Robert Drew Lighting and photography for the Orson Welles sequences 1973 Midnight Intruders 1973 And When She Was Bad... 1973 Bummer 1973 F for Fake Documentary filmCo-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 Second unit cinematographer 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

External links

Gary Graver interview at Wellesnet Unhappy with the way he felt producers sometimes butchered his work, in 2004 Graver made a documentary outlining his grievances. The entire documentary was posted on YouTube in several parts: .