Wilmer C. Butler dies: Cameraman whose work on “Jaws,” “Cuckoo’s Nest” and “The Conversation” was 101 years old

The Oscar-nominated cinematographer Wilmer C. Butler, whose work spans a number of period films such as The conversation (1974), Jaw (1975) and One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest (1975), deceased. He lived to be 101. The American Society of Cinematographers confirmed Butler’s death.

Butler was the oldest member of the ASC and he had a resume to match. He has worked with directors such as Philip Kaufman, Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin, Richard Donner, Jack Nicholson, Sylvester Stallone, Ivan Reitman, Tobe Hooper, Joseph Sargent, Mike Nichols, John Cassavetes and Steven Spielberg.

Friedkin convinced Butler to be the cameraman The People Against Paul Crump, a documentary about an inmate about to be executed in Illinois. The project commuted Crump’s death sentence.

He began working in feature films with Kaufman’s 1967 film The fearless Frank. Two years later, Friedkin introduced Butler to Coppola, with whom he shot The rain people before continuing to work with the director The conversation and almost apocalypse now. Butler actually turned down the latter while working on his own directorial debut, which didn’t happen.

“I was writing on the Universal Studios lot with director Phil Kaufman while I was still trying to get into the Los Angeles Camera Guild,” Butler recalls. “Then I met Steven Spielberg.” As with Coppola, Butler’s collaboration with Spielberg would span a series of films beginning with Something evil (1972) and Game (1973). Then come Jaw.

About their collaboration, Spielberg said in a statement to Deadline: “Bill Butler was the basis of this wobbly rocking boat called The orca. He was the only calm in the midst of this storm, and while we battled nature and the technology that exhausted us both, the public ultimately won the war. Bill’s outlook on life was pragmatic, philosophical and so patient and I owe him so much for his steadfast and creative contributions to the overall look of Jaw.”

On this blockbuster, much of which took place on the water, Butler figured out how to use a portable Panaflex camera and roll out the boat, creating a special camera platform that worked with the water for both “under the waterline” and also ” and” “surface” shots quickly and reconfigure the standard “waterbox” housing used to protect a camera in water.

He replaced Haskell Wexler twice: The conversation And cuckoo’s nestThe latter, from which Butler and Wexler shared an Oscar nomination.

Other films on which Butler served as cinematographer include Nicholson’s directorial debut drive, he said 1971, Fat And refrigerator parts 1978 & Rocky II, III And IV. Butler preceded the cameraman devil seed (1977), Capricorn one (1978), stripes (1981), Biloxi blues (1988), Children’s games (1988), graffiti bridge (1990), pinball (1996), anaconda (1997) and cheater (1997). His TV credits include The execution of the soldier Slovik (1974) and The Thornbirds (1983). He won Primetime Emmys for it Raid on Entebbe (1977) and End station required (1984).

Butler received the 2003 ASC Lifetime Achievement Award.

He is survived by five daughters; and his wife Iris Butler.