`Thunderball` underwater photographer and co-founder of Panavision passes away

30-Aug-2009 • Bond News

Richard Moore, a cinematographer and co-founder of Panavision, has died. He was 83.

Moore's Aug. 16 death at his home in Palm Springs was age-related, said his son, Stephen V. Moore.

His cinematography credits include "Winning" in 1969, "Myra Breckinridge" and "Sometimes a Great Notion" in 1970, "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" in 1972 and "Annie" in 1982, explains the LA Times.

Moore shared a 1959 scientific and engineering award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and received the President's Award from the American Society of Cinematographers in 2004.

Moore was born Oct. 4, 1925, in Jacksonville, Ill. He graduated from USC with a degree in cinema. His daughter, Marina Moore, said her father started out working on documentaries and travelogues and in 1953 teamed with Robert Gottschalk to start Panavision.

Panavision developed a projector lens for the widescreen format called Cinemascope, then began making camera lenses. The company revolutionized film in the 1970s with a hand-held studio camera that could record sight and sound simultaneously.

Marina Moore said her father left Panavision after nine years because "he didn't want a desk job. He wanted to shoot." She said she was born in the Bahamas during the filming of the 1965 James Bond thriller "Thunderball," for which her father shot underwater scenes.

"Becoming a cameraman and becoming part of Panavision was strictly -- I don't know what you'd call it -- luck or fate," Moore told Daily Variety in 2005. "It's something that I didn't plan on. It just happened."

In 1978 Moore directed "Circle of Iron," starring David Carradine and Eli Wallach. He also produced, directed and shot several commercials.

Moore's marriage to Mary Grace Fuller ended in divorce. She died in 1985. A daughter, Martita Laura, died in 1994. A celebration of his life is being planned. Instead of flowers, donations can be sent to any Humane Society in Southern California.