Bernie Abramson(1923-2010)
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Cinematographer
- Additional Crew
Born in Los Angeles, California and started his photography in junior
high school. He joined the United States Navy in 1942 as an aerial
cameraman and was the first photographer to photgraph the Japanese
fleet at the island of Palau. His aerial photos resulted in the sinking
of in excess of 50 ships and the destruction of 150 of their aircraft
for which he received numerous decorations. His plane was shot down in
1945 and he spent 2 1/2 days in the water before being rescued by the
USS Bowers. After being released from a Naval hospital and at the end
of the war, Abramson resumed his photographic activities as a
photographer in the motion picture industry. Among the productions to
his credit as a photographer are to name a few The Alamo, West Side
Story, Dirty Harry, The War Wagon, Cleopatra, Oceans Eleven, Sergeants
Three, Donovan's Reef, The Wild Bunch, and Some Like It Hot. It was on
the production of "Oceans 11" that Bernie became the favorite of the
"Rat Pack" and was always invited (with cameras) to the private
functions. In 1977 Bernie gave up still photography and became a
Director of Photography and his first credit as a Director of
Photography was Up the Sandbox (1972) with Barbra Streisand. Currently Abramson is still
employed as a DP and has just completed a feature titled
_Lethal (2004)_.
