As everyone knows, Gary Graver was loyal to Orson Welles for 15 years, often working for little or no salary. Gary survived by being the DP or director on A films, B films, and even soft-core; in other words, he was a trooper who made his living working in the film industry. He worked on these other films while waiting for the call from Welles to begin again on projects such as The Other Side of the Wind, F For Fake, Don Quixote, Moby Dick, The Dreamers, Filming Othello, Filming The Trial, The Magic Show, Orson’s Bag, The Orson Welles Show, and others. They met when Gary left a phone message for Welles in 1970, and Welles phoned him back, inviting him over and telling him that only one other DP ever phoned him- and that was Greg Toland.
In recent years Gary and his wife Jillian tirelessly promoted Welles around the world with their Welles presentation at film festivals, and Gary made a very entertaining documentary “Working With Welles”. And just a few months ago Gary announced that a deal was close to being sealed for the completing of TOSOTW; it’s terribly sad that he will not be able to participate in this important project.
I saw Gary do one of his presentations in Toronto, and spoke with him afterwards. He was sincere, sweet and unpretentious, and totally dedicated to the cause of Orson Welles.
He will be missed by many.
Here’s a nice photo of Gary, Orson Welles, and Oja Kodar: of the three, Gary said “We were like family.”
Here’s a URL to Gary’s site:
This is Gary’s IMDB page:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004372/
Here’s a recent interview:
Gary Graver in Australia interview
And here’s a URL to a nice article about Gary’s career:
http://www.critcononline.com/gary%20graver.htm
We give our sincere condolences to Gary’s family and friends.
Gary Graver, R.I.P.
Here are two recent photos of Gary, one with his wife Jillian Kesner:
Condolences can be sent to Jillian Kesner at:
Tony