Kenneth J Withers
Born this day in 1928
Camera Operator for Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond (TV Movie, 1967)
Focus Puller in You Only Live Twice
Kenneth Withers was born in Antwerp, Belgium and according
to IMDB got his start as an uncredited clapper loader at the age of 24 in the
UK/USA comedy You’re Only Young Twice
(1952). He went on to work on some amazing and memorable films: Lawrence
of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), tv mini-series Masada (1981), and Greystoke: The Legend of
Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984). In
addition to memorializing Sean Connery as James Bond in You Only Live
Twice and the documentary Welcome
to Japan, Mr. Bond, Withers worked with
another Bond, Pierce Brosnan on the 1980s show, Remington Steele.
Culling through some searches in Google, I came across a
forum post on March 11, 2015 from “AO” (jwsound’s forums discussing a
production shot from Lawrence of Arabia).
The person mentioned having met Ernest Day, one of the camera operators in
David Lean’s epic film, Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and related the following Withers’ story:
“My favourite story of Ken’s: he worked with a director
one that declared he had worked with someone just prior that who was the focus
puller on the famous shot of Omar Sharif riding through the desert haze. Ken
embarrassed the director by setting the story straight, that he was the one.
The irony of the gullibility of the director was that the gentleman professing
to have done the shot was too young…As was the custom of the time, the same
camera crew went on to shoot multiple David Lean movies.”
Here is the shot in question:
 |
| A Million Dollar Shot - Widescreen Museum |
Withers is listed as a retired member of the Guild of
British Camera Technicians (GBCT).
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