Born: 11 November 1922, Los Angeles, USA, as Fred J. Koenekamp, son of Hans F. Koenekamp [1891-1992], one of the film industry's pioneer spec pfx experts.

Career: Served in the US Navy during WWII. 'I had planned to go to the University of Southern California, where I had begun classes before I went in the service, but a job opportunity came up as a camera loader at RKO Studios. I was 23 years old and decided I probably shouldn't spend another two or three years at school. I took the job and fell in love with the movie industry. There were no young cameramen in Hollywood in those days. They were all older men, and from the stories I heard, no one had been promoted to first cameraman in ages. There were five or six cameramen on salary at RKO, including Robert De Grasse and J. Roy Hunt. After a couple of years, there was a lot of excitement because Joe Biroc was promoted to first cameraman. It was tough being a younger crewmember, because the work wasn't steady. You would get laid off in-between films. It was kind of hard in the beginning, but I got used to it after a couple of years. I got a job as a camera loader at Technicolor for about a year, and then RKO called me back as an assistant cameraman. I did a picture with a cameraman named Harry Wild. It was called 'Underwater!'. I was taught how to do underwater camera work, including scuba diving. The timing couldn't have been better because MGM was just getting started with a series of films featuring Esther Williams. They needed an assistant cameraman who could do underwater work. I went to MGM anticipating a month's work, and ended up staying there for 14 years. I did many pictures as an assistant cameraman. I worked with Joe Ruttenberg and other great cameramen. They eventually moved me up to operator on 'The Brothers Karamazov'. […] What happened was that feature work had slowed down, so I took a job as an operator on [the tv-series] 'Gunsmoke'. One day [in 1963] I got a phone call from the MGM camera department. They asked me to come over and meet Norman Felton, a producer who might be interested in making me a first cameraman on a television series called 'The Lieutenant'. It turned out that he had a new show coming up called 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' I worked on that show for about four seasons. It might have been the best break in my life. That series was fun to shoot, and it gave me a chance to experiment with lighting and other things.' [From the KODAK OnFilm website.]

Ph commercials dir by Stan Freberg, a.o. Active member of the ASC since 1967. Retired in 1989.

Awards: 'Emmy' Award nom [1964-65] for 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'; 'Emmy' Award nom [1965-66] for 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1971] & Golden Laurel Award [1971] for 'Patton'; 'Oscar' AA [1975; shared] & BAFTA Film Award nom [1976] for 'The Towering Inferno'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1978] for 'Islands in the Stream'; ASC Lifetime Achievement Award [2005].

'Mr. Koenekamp's camera has moved slowly from walls [for the small screen] to 'monoliths' [for the cinema screen]. The 'monoliths' have been 'Patton' [in the form of George C. Scott], 'Kansas City Bomber' [in the form of Ms. Welch], 'Papillon', 'The Towering Inferno', 'Doc Savage', et cetera, et cetera. With all this in his way the concept of 'painting with light' doesn't stand a chance.' [Tise Vahimagi in 'Film Dope', #31, January 1985.]

1964        The Spy with My Face [John Newland] c; theatrical release of expanded ep #8 'The Double Affair' from tv-series 'The

                    Man from U.N.C.L.E.'; released in 1965

1965        One Spy Too Many [Joseph Sargent] c; theatrical release of 2-part ep (#30 & 31) 'The Alexander the Greater Affair'

                    from tv-series 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'; released in 1966

1965        One of Our Spies Is Missing! [E. Darrell Hallenbeck] c; theatrical release of 2-part ep (#49 & 50) 'The Bridge of Lions

                    Affair' from tv-series 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'; released in 1966

1966        The Spy in the Green Hat [Joseph Sargent] c; theatrical release of 2-part ep (#70 & 71) 'The Concrete Overcoat Affair'

                    from tv-series 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'; released in 1967

1966        Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding/This Way Out, Please/Three for a Wedding [Peter Tewksbury] p/c

1967        The Karate Killers [Barry Shear] c; theatrical release of 2-part ep (#87 & 88) 'The Five Daughters Affair' from tv-series

                    'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'; released in 1967

1967        The Helicopter Spies [Boris Sagal] c; theatrical release of 2-part ep (#93 & 94) 'The Prince of Darkness Affair' from

                    tv-series 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'; released in 1968

1967        Sol Madrid/The Heroin Gang [Brian G. Hutton] p/c

1967        Stay Away, Joe [Peter Tewksbury] p/c

1968        Live a Little, Love a Little [Norman Taurog] p/c

1968        Heaven with a Gun [Lee H. Katzin] p/c

1968        The Great Bank Robbery [Hy Averback] p/c; 2uc: Mark Davis; aph: Jack Willoughby

1969        Patton/Patton: Lust for Glory/Blood and Guts [Franklin Schaffner] D150/c; 2uc: Clifford Stine & Cecilio Paniagua;

                    spec pfx: L.B. Abbott & Art Cruickshank

1970        Beyond the Valley of the Dolls/Hollywood Vixens [Russ Meyer] p/c

1970        Flap/The Last Warrior [Carol Reed] p/c

1970        Billy Jack [T.C. Frank = Tom Laughlin] c; cph: John M. Stephens

1971        Skin Game [Paul Bogart & (uncred) Gordon Douglas] p/c

1971        Stand Up and Be Counted [Jackie Cooper] c

1971        Happy Birthday, Wanda June [Mark Robson] c

1971        Rage [George C. Scott] p/c

1972        The Magnificent Seven Ride! [George McCowan] c

1972        Kansas City Bomber [Jerrold Freedman] c

1972        Harry In Your Pocket [Bruce Geller] p/c

1973        Papillon [Franklin Schaffner] p/c; spec pfx: Albert Whitlock

1973        Uptown Saturday Night [Sidney Poitier] c

1974        The Towering Inferno [John Guillermin & (action unit) Irwin Allen] p (35mm & 70bu)/c; ph 1st unit; ph action unit:

                    Joseph Biroc; aph: Greg MacGillivray & Jim Freeman; spec pfx: L.B. Abbott; optical ph: Frank Van der Veer

1974        Posse [Kirk Douglas] p/c; addph: Jules Brenner

1974        The Wild McCullochs/McCullochs [Max Baer Jr.] c

1975        White Line Fever [Jonathan Kaplan] c

1975        Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze [Michael Anderson] c

1975        Islands in the Stream [Franklin Schaffner] p/c; 2uc: William Fraker

1975        Embryo/Created to Kill [Ralph Nelson] c

1976        The Domino Principle/The Domino Killings [Stanley Kramer] c; aph: Donald M. Morgan; FK was temporarily

                    replaced by ph Ernest Laszlo due to an accident during shooting

1976        Fun with Dick and Jane [Ted Kotcheff] c

1976        The Other Side of Midnight [Charles Jarrott] p/c; 2uc: Robert Huke

1977        The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training [Michael Pressman] c

1977        The Swarm [Irwin Allen] p/c; spec pfx: L.B. Abbott

1977        Love and Bullets [Stuart Rosenberg & (uncred) John Huston] p/c; European ph: Anthony Richmond

1978        The Champ [Franco Zeffirelli] c

1978        The Amityville Horror [Stuart Rosenberg] c

1979        When Time Ran Out.../The Day the World Ended/Earth's Final Fury [James Goldstone] p/c; miniature ph:

                    Stanley Cortez; spec pfx: L.B. Abbott

1979        The Hunter [Buzz Kulik] c; aph: Frank Holgate

1980        First Family [Buck Henry] c

1980        Carbon Copy [Michael Schultz] p/c

1980        First Monday in October [Ronald Neame] p/c; 2uc: Jack Priestley & Dick Kratina

1981        Wrong Is Right/The Man with the Deadly Lens [Richard Brooks] c

1981        Yes, Giorgio [Franklin Schaffner] c

1982        It Came from Hollywood [Malcolm Leo & Andrew Solt] b&w-c; comp film/80m; addph (ph new footage)

1983        Two of a Kind [John Herzfeld] c; New York ph: Warren Rothenberger

1983        The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension [W.D. Richter] p/c; efx ph: William Hayward

1983        Stick [Burt Reynolds] c; addph; ph: Nick McLean

1986        Stewardess School [Ken Blancato] p/c

1988        Listen to Me [Douglas Day Stewart] c

1988        Welcome Home [Franklin Schaffner] c

1989        Flight of the Intruder [John Milius] s35/c; aph: David Nowell; vfx ph: Michael Lawler & John P. Mesa

1963        The Lieutenant [ep #29 'To Kill a Man' dir by Vincent McEveety] 29-part series, 1963-64/b&w; other ph: Paul Ivano;

                    ep #29 was also released theatrically in Europe

1964        The Outer Limits [ep #49 'The Probe' dir by Felix Feist] 49-part series, 1963-65/b&w; 2nd season, 1964-65; other

                    ph: Kenneth Peach

1964        The Man from U.N.C.L.E. [28 ep dir by various] 105-part series, 1964-68; 1st season, 1964-65/b&w; other ph: Joseph

                    Biroc (pilot)

1965        Jericho [pilot 'Dutch and Go' dir by Barry Shear] 16-part series, 1966-67

1965        The Man from U.N.C.L.E. [various] 2nd season, 1965-66/c; see 1964

1966        The Man from U.N.C.L.E. [various] 3rd season, 1966-67/c; see 1964

1967        The Man from U.N.C.L.E. [various] 4th season, 1967-68/c; see 1964

1967        Mission: Impossible [ep #52 'Trial by Fury' dir by Leonard Horn] 171-part series, 1966-73; 2nd season, 1967-68

1968        U.S. [?] pilot

1968        Shadow on the Land [Richard Sarafian] tvm

1970        Night Chase/The Man in the Back Seat/L.A. Cab [Jack Starrett] tvm

1970        In Search of America [Paul Bogart] tvm

1971        The Deadly Hunt [John Newland] tvm

1971        The Cable Car Murder/Crosscurrent [Jerry Thorpe] tvm

1972        Kung Fu [ep #3 'Dark Angel' dir by Jerry Thorpe] 63-part series, 1972-75; 1st season, 1972-73

1973        Hawkins [ep #4 'Life for a Life' dir by Jud Taylor] 8-part series, 1973-74

1974        The Runaway Barge/River Bandits [Boris Sagal] tvm

1975        Conspiracy of Terror [John L. Moxey] tvm

1978        Salvage 1 [pilot 'Salvage' dir by Lee Philips] 20-part (4 unaired) series, 1979; other ph: Gerald Perry Finnerman

1979        Disaster on the Coastliner [Richard Sarafian] tvm; aph: Frank Holgate

1982        Tales of the Gold Monkey [pilot dir by Ray Austin] 22-part series, 1982-83; other ph: Jack Whitman

1982        Money on the Side [Robert Collins] tvm

1982        Summer Girl/The Hands That Rob the Cradle [Robert M. Lewis] tvm

1982        The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. - The Fifteen Years Later Affair [Ray Austin] pilot/tvm

1983        Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac [Robert M. Lewis] tvm; addph: Gayne Rescher

1983        Summer Fantasy [Noel Nosseck] tvm

1984        Obsessive Love [Steven H. Stern] tvm

1984        City Killer [Robert M. Lewis] tvm

1984        The Vegas Strip War/Las Vegas Strip War [George Englund] tvm

1984        A Touch of Scandal [Ivan Nagy] tvm

1984        Not My Kid [Michael Tuchner] tvm

1985        The Other Lover [Robert Ellis Miller] tvm

1985        Amos [Michael Tuchner] tvm

1985        Alice in Wonderland [Harry Harris] 2-part tvm

1985        Pleasures [Sharron Miller] tvm

1985        News at Eleven [Mike Robe] tvm

1986        The B.R.A.T. Patrol [Mollie Miller] tvm

1986        The Leftovers [Paul Schneider] tvm

1986        The Thanksgiving Promise [Beau Bridges] tvm

1986        Double Switch [David Greenwalt] tvm

1987        Double Agent [Mike Vejar] tvm

1987        Student Exchange [Mollie Miller] tvm

1987        The Return of the Shaggy Dog [Stuart Gillard] tvm

1988        14 Going on 30 [Paul Schneider] tvm

1988        Splash, Too [Greg Antonacci] tvm; uwph: Jordan Klein Sr.

1988        Hard Time on Planet Earth [various] 13-part series, 1989

1954        Underwater!/The Big Rainbow [John Sturges] c.asst uwph; uwph: Lamar Boren; ph: Harry J. Wild

1956        Raintree County [Edward Dmytryk] c.asst; ph: Robert Surtees

1957        The Brothers Karamazov/The Murderer Dmitri Karamazov [Richard Brooks] c.op; ph: John Alton

1958        Watusi/The Quest for King Solomon's Mines [Kurt Neumann] c.op; ph: Harold Wellman

1961        The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse [Vincente Minnelli] c.op; ph: Milton Krasner

1961        Two Weeks in Another Town [Vincente Minnelli] c.op; ph: Milton Krasner

1962        The Hook [George Seaton] c.op; ph: Joseph Ruttenberg

1963        Gunsmoke [various; tv-series] c.op; ph: Frank Phillips (1963-65)