Biography

William H. Clothier was born on February 21, 1903 in Decatur, Illinois, USA. He was a cinematographer and producer, known for The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), The Alamo (1960) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). He was married to Carmen Clothier. He died on January 7, 1996 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

[on John Wayne] Duke hasn't any patience with anybody: his family, other actors, anybody. If you've got a Big Name Star, he'll keep quiet. Howard Keel on The War Wagon (1967), I remember. One day Duke started pushing him around, grabbing him, showing him how to play the scene. After the scene was over, Keel said, "If he puts his hands on me again, I'm gonna clobber that son of a bitch."

[on director/producer William A. Wellman] Wild Bill Wellman--a great guy.

[on director John Ford] One time I called him John and he told me that only his enemies called him John. "Call me Jack," he'd say. Well, it's a funny thing with Jack: socially, you never wanted any part of him. He just wasn't that pleasant. For one thing, he was a reformed alcoholic; he didn't drink and he didn't think anybody else should. He also liked to play cards, but if you won you were a no-good son of a bitch.

[on director Josef von Sternberg] Josef was a strange guy. He made a couple of great films and became very hard to get along with.

It's a hell of a lot easier to shoot in color than it is to shoot in black-and-white, and don't ever let anyone tell you different.