Legendary Cinematographer Bill Butler Passes at 101

Bill Butler. Total cinematic rock star. The great cinematographer passed away at the age 101. Triple digits. What a legend.

Butler shot “Jaws.” Yes, he’s the man responsible for figuring out how to film the shark’s POV underwater (due to a constantly malfunctioning shark prop), Butler did an amazing job and realized some iconic shots along the way.

Butler had to film many of the boat scenes on the actual, tiny boat and in open water, before steadicams and digital equipment ever existed. He also probably responsible for the greatest dolly-zoom shot in film history.

In 2015, “Jaws” director Steven Spielberg actually wrote a letter to Butler acknowledging his work behind the camera:

"You were the calm before, during and after every storm on the set of Jaws. Without your zen-like confidence and wonderful sense of humor, I would have gone the way of the rest of the Jaws crew — totally out of my friggin' mind. Congratulations on this well-deserved career achievement award from your peers. All my best, Steven."

It’s not just “Jaws,” Butler was also the DP on “The Conversation”, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, “Grease, the “Rocky” sequels and Bill Paxton’s incredibly underrated “Frailty.”

He was also an AC for the original ‘Star Trek’, and was 2nd unit for “Deliverance”, and “The Godfather”.

About that credit for ‘One Flew.’ Butler was actually hired after Haskell Wexler was fired from the production, and they were both subsequently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

Butler kept working until he was 87. He was retired for the last fourteen years of his life.