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JACK PRIESTLEY |
Born: 27 July 1926, New York City, N.Y., USA, as John S. Priestley.
Died: 26 May 1993, Los Angeles, Calif., USA.
Career: Most of his early motion picture work was done on the East Coast.
Ph commercials.
Was member of IATSE Local 644 [New York] and the ASC [since 1977].
His brother Tom A. Priestley Sr. [1918-28 January 1993] was a newsreel ph & doc filmmaker. His nephew Tom Priestley Jr. is a doph.
Awards: 'Emmy' Award [1961-62] for 'Naked City'; 'Emmy' Award [1962-63] for 'Naked City'; 'Emmy' Award nom [1963-64] for 'East Side/West Side'; ASC TV Award nom [1987] for 'Rage of Angels: The Story Continues' [part II]; 'Emmy' Award nom [1991] for 'The Trials of Rosie O'Neill' [ep #1 'Starting Over' dir by Ron Lagomarsino]; ASC TV Award [1991] for 'The Trials of Rosie O'Neill' [ep 'This Can't Be Love'].
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[Left] - "Across 110th Street" |
'Across 110th Street' [1972]: Producer Fouad Said found out during principal photography that the first production model of the much anticipated Arriflex 35BL had just arrived in New York. Said persuaded Volker Bahnemann, Vice President of ARRI in America, to let his 'Across 110th Street' crew be the first to try out the 35BL, for a week. The camera immediately revolutionized what they were able to achieve on the streets of Harlem. It was self-blimped, weighed only 15 kg [compared to 35-50 kg for a blimped camera] and held its dual-compartment coaxial magazine on the rear of the camera body for perfectly shoulder-balanced handheld shooting.
"It's a real winner", affirmed DoP Jack Priestly at the time. "It's as quiet as a church mouse and has great flexibility, especially as it weighs only 15 kg. I don't know what I would have done in a lot of spots without it - especially in those small rooms where we often had to shoot. You put it on your shoulder and walk around, bend down, sit down, hold it in your lap - everything. I think it's going to help the film industry tremendously."
One week with the 35BL proved it to be such a valuable tool that Said negotiated keeping the camera for the last four weeks of filming. It allowed the crew to shoot sync-sound in the most cramped and inaccessible of locations.
Utilizing the 35BL in conjunction with one or two other Arriflex IIC cameras in these small locations often meant having to use longer lenses, in order to keep the operators out of each others' viewfinders. This, coupled with the low light levels and fog/diffusion filtration combo, meant focus headaches in scenes depicting fast-moving action such as fist fights and gun battles. Fortunately, mentioned Priestly, "we had a first assistant named Fred Schuler who is really excellent at following focus and he kept it all pretty sharp." [From the ARRI website.]
FILMS |
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1965 |
A Man Called Adam [Leo Penn] b&w |
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1966 |
The Teenager [?] ? |
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1967 |
No Way to Treat a Lady [Jack Smight] c |
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1968 |
The Subject Was Roses [Ulu Grosbard] c |
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1968 |
Stiletto [Bernard L. Kowalski] c |
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1970 |
Where's Poppa?/Going Ape [Carl Reiner] b&w-c |
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1971 |
Born to Win/Addict [Ivan Passer] c; cph: Richard Kratina |
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1972 |
The Circus [Greg Dinallo] tao70/c; short/10m |
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1972 |
Across 110th Street [Barry Shear] c; marks the prod debut of the Arriflex 35BL camera |
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1973 |
About Time [Ed deMartin] tao/c; short/20m; 2uc: Charles Groesbeek |
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1973 |
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three [Joseph Sargent] p/c; 2uc; ph: Owen Roizman |
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1974 |
The Midnight Man [Burt Lancaster & Roland Kibbee] c |
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1976 |
Wings Over America/Rockshow [Paul McCartney (uncred)] c; concert film/105m; doc ph: Gordon Bennett & Phil Mottram; released in 1980 |
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1977 |
The Wiz [Sidney Lumet] 35mm & 70bu/c; 2uc; ph: Oswald Morris |
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1980 |
The First Deadly Sin [Brian G. Hutton] c |
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1980 |
First Monday in October [Ronald Neame] p/c; co-2uc Washington; ph: Fred Koenekamp |
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1983 |
Beat Street [Stan Lathan (replaced Andrew Davis)] c; co-addph; ph: Tom Priestley Jr. |
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1985 |
The Man with One Red Shoe [Stan Dragoti] p/c; 2uc; ph: Richard H. Kline |
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1986 |
Baby Boom [Charles Shyer] c; 2uc East Coast; ph: William A. Fraker |
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1988 |
Chances Are [Emile Ardolino] c; ph Washington; ph: William A. Fraker |
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1989 |
Back to the Future Part II [Robert Zemeckis] c; addph; ph: Dean Cundey |
TELEVISION |
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1960 |
Route 66 [ep #1 'Black November' dir by Philip Leacock] 116-part adventure series, 1960-64 (CBS-tv); 1st season, 1960-61; 2uc (+ c.op); ph: Ernesto Caparros |
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1960 |
Naked City [21 ep dir by various] 138-part police series/b&w, 1958-59 (30m) & 1960-63 (60m) (ABC-tv); 2nd season, 1960-61 (32 ep) |
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1961 |
Naked City [29 ep dir by various] 3rd season, 1961-62 (33 ep); see 1960 |
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1962 |
Naked City [25 ep dir by various] 4th season, 1962-63 (34 ep); see 1960 |
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1963 |
East Side/West Side [various] 26-part drama series/b&w, 1963-64 (CBS-tv) |
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1964 |
Mr. Broadway [various] 13-part drama series/b&w (CBS-tv) |
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1964 |
For the People [various] 13-part police series/b&w, 1965 (CBS-tv) |
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1965 |
Seaway/On the Seaway [ep #2 'Last Voyage' dir by Daniel Petrie, #6 '34th Man' dir by George McCowan, #8 'Bonhomme Richard' dir by Irving Lerner & #? 'A Medal for Mirko' dir by Abraham Polonsky] 30-part adventure series/b&w & c (2 ep), 1965-66 (syndicated); other ph: Gayne Rescher (+ cph ep 'A Medal for Mirko'), John Gunn, Reginald H. Morris, a.o. |
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1965 |
Ages of Man [Paul Bogart] 2-part special/b&w (solo recital) with John Gielgud for CBS-tv (1966) |
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1967 |
The Extremist [?] pilot |
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1967 |
N.Y.P.D. [pilot 'Shakedown' dir by Daniel Petrie] 49-part police series, 1967-69 (ABC-tv) |
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1970 |
McCloud [various] pilot + 45-part police series, 1970-77 (NBC-tv) |
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1971 |
Cutter [Richard Irving] pilot (90m) |
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1971 |
Crawlspace [John Newland (replaced Buzz Kulik during filming)] tvm; 2uc; ph: Urs Furrer |
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1972 |
Madigan [ep #4 'The Lisbon Beat' dir by Boris Sagal & #6 'The Park Avenue Beat' dir by Alex March] 6-part police series, 1972-73 (NBC-tv) |
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1973 |
Kojak [various] pilot + 118-part police series, 1973-78 (CBS-tv) |
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1973 |
The Snoop Sisters [various] 4-part detective series, 1973-74 (NBC-tv); other ph: Harry L. Wolf; followed the tvm 'The Snoop Sisters/Female Instinct' (1972, Leonard Stern; ph: Harry L. Wolf) |
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1974 |
Columbo [ep #28 'By Dawn's Early Light' dir by Harvey Hart] 2 pilots (1968 & 1971) + 43-part police series, 1971-78 (NBC-tv); 4th season, 1974-75 |
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1974 |
Strike Force/Crackdown [Barry Shear] pilot/73m; cph: Sol Negrin |
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1975 |
The Silence [Joseph Hardy] tvm |
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1975 |
The Art of Crime/Roman Grey: The Fine Art of Crime [Richard Irving] pilot/90m; cph: Bernie Abramson |
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1975 |
Movin' On [ep #30 'General Delivery (: Raleigh)' dir by Leo Penn] pilot + 45-part adventure series, 1974-76 (NBC-tv); 2nd season, 1975-76 |
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1976 |
Seventh Avenue [Richard Irving (parts 1 + 2) & Russ Mayberry (part 3)] 3-part miniseries |
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1976 |
The Andros Targets [pilot 'The Killing of a Porno Queen' dir by ?] 13-part newspaper drama series, 1977 (CBS-tv) |
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1977 |
The Rubber Gun Squad [Hy Averback] pilot |
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1977 |
Contract on Cherry Street/Stakeout on Cherry Street [William A. Graham] tvm |
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1978 |
You Can't Go Home Again [Ralph Nelson] tvm |
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1979 |
The Neighborhood [Lee H. Katzin] pilot; aired in April 1982 |
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1980 |
Family Reunion [Fielder Cook] 2-part tvm (1981) |
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1983 |
[Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer:] More Than Murder [Gary Nelson] 2nd pilot; ph New York; ph: James Crabe |
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1984 |
Lady Blue [Gary Nelson] pilot; followed by series |
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1985 |
Lady Blue [ep #2 'Death Valley Day' dir by Virgil Vogel] 12-part series, 1985-86 |
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1986 |
Rage of Angels: The Story Continues [Paul Wendkos] 2-part tvm; process ph: Bill Hansard Sr.; sequel to 'Rage of Angels' (1983, Buzz Kulik; ph: Ron Lautore, Jorge Stahl & Michel Kelber) |
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1987 |
Cagney & Lacey [19 ep dir by various] pilot (1981) + 125-part series, 1982-88 + 4 tvm's, 1994-96; 7th season, 1987-88 |
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1988 |
A Man Called Hawk [6 ep dir by various] 13-part series, 1989; spin off from 'Spenser: For Hire' (1985-88) |
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1989 |
Columbo [ep #7 'Agenda for Murder' dir by Patrick McGoohan, #8 'Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo' dir by Vincent McEveety, #9 'Uneasy Lies the Crown' dir by Alan J. Levi & #10 'Murder in Malibu' dir by Walter Grauman] 10-part series, 1989-90; 2nd season, 1989-90 |
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1990 |
The Trials of Rosie O'Neill [various] series, 1990-92 |
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1992 |
FBI: The Untold Stories [ep 'The Miller Extortion' dir by Bruce Seth Green] 53-part (?) series, 1991-93 |
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MISCELLANEOUS |
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1951 |
This Is Cinerama [Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack (uncred prologue), Michael Todd Jr. (superv European seq), Gunther von Fritsch (Vienna) & Robert Flaherty (seg not included)] c.asst; ph: Harry Squire; 1st Cinerama presentation |
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1954 |
Cinerama Holiday [Robert Bendick & Philippe De Lacy] co-c.op; ph: Joseph C. Brun & Harry Squire; 2nd Cinerama presentation |
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1954 |
Moby Dick [John Huston] ?; ph: Oswald Morris |
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1955 |
Seven Wonders of the World [Tay Garnett, Paul Mantz, Andrew Marton, Ted Tetzlaff & Walter Thompson] c.op; ph: Harry Squire; 3rd Cinerama presentation |
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1957 |
Search for Paradise/Search for Shangri-La [Otto Lang] co-c.op; ph: Harry Squire; 4th Cinerama presentation |
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1958 |
Naked City [33 ep dir by various] c.op; ph: J. Burgi Contner; 1st season, 1958-59 (39 ep); see Television (1960) |
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1959 |
The Brain That Wouldn't Die/The Head That Wouldn't Die [Joseph Green] c.op; ph: Stephen Hajnal |
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1960 |
Route 66 [ep #1 'Black November' dir by Philip Leacock; 1st season tv-series] c.op (+ 2uc); ph: Ernesto Caparros |
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1960 |
Naked City [ep #41 'The Pedigree Sheet' dir by John Brahm, #42 'A Succession of Heartbeats' dir by Paul Wendkos (PW), #43 'Down the Long Night' dir by PW, #44 'To Walk in Silence' dir by Roger Kay, #46 'Debt of Honor' dir by Tay Garnett (TG) & #55 'Button in the Haystack' dir by TG] c.op; ph: Ernesto Caparros; 2nd season, 1960-61; see Television (1960) |
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1970 |
Such Good Friends [Otto Preminger] c.op; ph: Gayne Rescher |