Edwin B. DuPar

Edwin B. DuPar
Born
Edwin Balch DuPar

(1885-11-24)November 24, 1885
Plum Creek, Nebraska, U.S.
DiedJune 4, 1961(1961-06-04) (aged 75)
OccupationCinematographer
Years active1922-1961
SpouseHelen Monehan (m. 1923)

Edwin B. DuPar (November 24, 1885 – June 4, 1961) was an American cinematographer, special effects technician, and film director who worked on hundreds of projects during his lengthy career in Hollywood, beginning in the early 1920s.[1][2][3]

Biography

Edwin was born in Plum, Creek, Nebraska, to Francis DuPar and Luella Scarff. The family soon relocated to Salida, Colorado, where Francis DuPar was elected mayor, before settling permanently in Monrovia, California.[4][5] As a young man, Edwin forged a career in vaudeville in Chicago.[6][7]

DuPar was an early member of the American Society of Cinematographers. At the dawn of the sound era, he was the chief Vitaphone cameraman in Hollywood, and he was the person who is credited with devising the means for synchronizing action and sound.[8][9][10] In 1929 Warners reassigned him to its Vitaphone short-subject studio in Brooklyn, New York, where he became Vitaphone's chief cameraman. He photographed dozens of Vitaphone shorts, including two-reel comedies with either Roscoe Arbuckle, Shemp Howard, Jack Haley, Harry Gribbon, George Givot, or Red Skelton, and musicals with Lillian Roth, Hal Le Roy, or various popular orchestras before returning to Burbank in 1935.[11] In 1940 he became Warners' resident special-effects technician, creating photographic effects for feature films. He returned to full-time director of photography in 1950, and helped pioneer WarnerColor,[12] the studio's own variation of Eastmancolor.

Edwin DuPar was also very active in the Warner Bros. television division between 1958 and 1961, photographing 10 different series including 77 Sunset Strip, Maverick, and Hawaiian Eye.

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ Stumpf, Charles (2010-04-13). ZaSu Pitts: The Life and Career. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6023-6.
  2. ^ Soister, John T. (2015-09-02). Conrad Veidt on Screen: A Comprehensive Illustrated Filmography. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-1122-8.
  3. ^ Maltin, Leonard (2012-07-25). The Art of the Cinematographer. Courier Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-15474-9.
  4. ^ "Edwin B. DuPar Weds". Monrovia Daily News. 2 Jul 1923. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  5. ^ "Welcome Mat Out". Battle Creek Enquirer. 19 Dec 1954. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  6. ^ "The City in Brief". Monrovia Daily News. 21 Aug 1911. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  7. ^ "Entertainment". Monrovia Daily News. 12 Nov 1914. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  8. ^ "The City in Brief". The Monrovia Daily News. 2 Jul 1923. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  9. ^ "Monrovian Credited in Big Task". Monrovia Daily News. 15 Nov 1926. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  10. ^ Fleeger, Jennifer (2014). Sounding American: Hollywood, Opera, and Jazz. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-936649-1.
  11. ^ "Edwin B. DuPar Family Returned to Coast Studio". Monrovia News-Post. 16 Mar 1935. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  12. ^ "Veteran Cameraman 33 Years in Studio". The Los Angeles Times. 22 Jun 1952. Retrieved 2019-12-11.