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Laszlo Kovacs has died


Jeff Wexler

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I just read in the L.A. times the obituary for Laszlo Kovacs. This is very sad. I worked with Laszlo a few times but never had the chance to do a full movie. Laszlo first came to prominence shooting "Easy Rider" which was just another biker movie, or so he thought, for Laszlo early in his career. He had shot more than 70 feature films, including "New York, New York," "The Last Waltz," "Frances," "Ghostbusters," "Multiplicity," "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "Miss Congeniality."

Note: the L.A. Times screwed up and put a picture of Sven Nyquist (another great cinematographer who died in September 2006. The Times used the same picture in Sven's obituary).

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

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R I P Laszlo. A great man with a huge appetite for life. Laszlo will be missed by all of us who knew and worked with him. I was lucky to do "Mask" and "Legal Eagles" with Laz, and too many commercials to count in the old FilmFair days. So many great meals and laughs and stories around the table. Those times are priceless and I will always treasure them. For those that didn't have the pleasure of meeting Laszlo, IMDB him and see what a career can be. See the films and you might see a little of Laszlo as well.

Regards, CrewC

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R I P Laszlo. A great man with a huge appetite for life. Laszlo will be missed by all of us who knew and worked with him. I was lucky to do "Mask" and "Legal Eagles" with Laz, and too many commercials to count in the old FilmFair days.

Regards, CrewC

I forgot that you had worked so much with Laszlo. Thank you so much Crew for remembering him here.

-  Jeff W.

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I got to do a commercial with him many years ago--I expected a big "Hollywood slumming in commercials" attitude: he was a gentleman and a wonderful crew leader. When I asked if a plant mic I was working was visible to the camera he had props move something to help hide it.  When I thanked him he intimated that what we were doing was a team sport.  A true master.

Philip Perkins

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one of the great cinematographers of our time and a true success story for his native country. i remember studying the man in my senior thesis class at college, along with walter murch, and found them to be some of the most creative and inspirational people in their respective crafts. RIP.

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Hey Jeff, I finally got the obit from the LA times w Svens pic instead of Laszo's, what a blunder. At least the obit in the New York times got the picture right. For some reason I thought you did Shampoo, but you said you never did a full movie with him. It's to bad cause Laszlo loved all aspects of film making and if you were there for him than he was there for you. The two of you would of gotten along well.

CrewC

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For some reason I thought you did Shampoo, but you said you never did a full movie with him.

CrewC

Hal wanted me to do Shampoo but that was still during the time that I was fighting to get in the union. I did "Harold and Maude" with Hal in 1969-70 but I wasn't doing sound yet. I had done sound recording for screen tests in pre-production for "Harold and Maude" and then the next movie was "The Last Detail" that I also worked in pre-production (and I had actually mixed quite a few non-union movies by then, 1972 or so). I couldn't get on "The Last Detail" and then again on "Shampoo" in 1974, no go. It wasn't until "Bound For Glory" in 1975 that I was able to do a union movie.

I did run into Laszlo a lot and I really liked him. I am pleased to hear that he was good to work with --- that's an experience I will never have.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

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Thanks Jeff for clearing that up for me. I would of sworn that "Bound for Glory" was done before "Shampoo". My sense of time seems to slip with the passing of time. Both are great films that sadly would never be made today. A lot of good one's are gone. Hopefully a lot of good one's are coming. Long live the art of film making in whatever the form comes our way.

Respect, CrewC

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a good friend of mine in L.A. (who is a friend to laszlo's family) has been asked to go thru laszlo's "cinema stuff" and potentially sort out what materials might be donated to an organization such as ASC.  i'm guessing there'll be some great treasures in there.  my friend got to know him rather well, but i never had the chance to meet him.  i heard a number of great things about him though.

-greg-

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