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Fred J. Koenekamp

This son of famed special effects cameraman Hans F. Koenekamp developed a reputation as a consistent and meticulous director of photography. He began his film career at RKO as a film loader and gradually worked his way through the ranks. By 1957, he had graduated to camera operator, working under Robert Surtees on "Raintree County." Koenekamp first graduated to full-fledged cinematographer working on the small screen, notably on the NBC spy series "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." His first feature credits as director of photography were for three quickie compilations that were cobbled from episodes of that show, "One Spy Too Many" and "The Spy in the Green Hat" (both 1966) and "The Karate Killers" (1967). Koenekamp really did not hit his stride as a lenser until he was teamed with director Franklin J. Schaffner, beginning with "Patton" (1970), for which he earned his first Academy Award nomination. He also handled less high-brow fare like "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" (1970) and "Billy Jack" (1971). With veteran cinematographer Joseph Biroc, Koenekamp shared an Oscar for their work on "The Towering Inferno" (1974). He continued working in both TV and features into the 1990s, providing the glossy look to such projects as Franco Zeffirelli's remake of "The Champ" (1979), the cult hit "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension" (1984), the CBS miniseries "Alice in Wonderland" (1985) and several entries of ABC's "Disney Sunday Movie" in 1986 and 1987.