Charles F. Wheeler

Charles F. Wheeler (sometimes credited as Charles Wheeler), born December 15, 1915, in Memphis, Tennessee, died October 28, 2004, in Orange, California, was an American cinematographer and member of the ASC. In film, Charles F. Wheeler began his career as a camera operator on Stanley Kramer's Mon... More

Charles F. Wheeler (sometimes credited as Charles Wheeler), born December 15, 1915, in Memphis, Tennessee, died October 28, 2004, in Orange, California, was an American cinematographer and member of the ASC. In film, Charles F. Wheeler began his career as a camera operator on Stanley Kramer's Monkey Trial (starring Spencer Tracy and Fredric March), released in 1960. He worked in this position for five other American films until 1966, including John Cassavetes's The Child Waiting (1963, starring Burt Lancaster and Judy Garland). After John Sturges' Wagon Train (1965, starring Burt Lancaster and Lee Remick), where he was a second unit cinematographer, his first film as a full-fledged cinematographer was Ralph Nelson's The Battle for Devil's Valley (starring James Garner and Sidney Poitier), released in 1966. His last film was Roger Spottiswoode's The Last Pass (starring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell), released in 1986. In the meantime, he collaborated on several Disney productions, including Robert Butler's The Strange Director (1971, starring Kurt Russell and Joe Flynn) and Norman Tokar's The Cat from Outer Space (1978, starring Ken Berry and Sandy Duncan). Also worth mentioning is the American-Japanese war film Tora! Tora! Tora! by Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, and Toshio Masuda (1970, with Martin Balsam and Joseph Cotten), which earned him a (shared) Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography in 1971. He also provided additional photography for three films, including Robert Wise's Star Trek (1979, with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy). On television, Charles F. Wheeler was the director of photography on six series, the first being The Twilight Zone, with two episodes aired in 1964. Among the following—the last in 1986—were The Wonderful World of Disney (five episodes, 1973–1978). Most importantly, he was the cinematographer on twenty-five television films between 1972 and 1985, including Buzz Kulik's The Uncanny Ronald (1974, with Scott Jacoby and Kim Hunter).