Gary Graver

Gary Foss Graver (July 20, 1938 – November 16, 2006) His father was a native Oregonian, while his mother was born in Washington state. where he attended Grant High School. 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

quote|From that day forward, Orson Welles was the central figure in Gary Graver's life: more important than his wife, his children, his bank account, and his health. For the rest of Orson's life (and his own) Graver belonged to the great director."

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." 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).

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.

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 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