Richard Leiterman was a well-known Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 cinematographer

Cinematographer

A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...

, best known for documentary

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 and feature film

Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...

 work in the 1960s and 1970s. His cinéma vérité

Cinéma vérité

Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.There are subtle yet...

, or direct camera, style helped define Canadian cinema

Canadian cinema

Canadian cinema refers to the filmmaking industry in Canada. Canada is home to several film studios centres, primarily located in its three largest cities: Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. Industries and communities tend to be regional and niche in nature...

 at the time.

Biography

Born in the small town of South Porcupine in northern Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 in 1935, Leiterman grew up in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, where he spent his young years working as a waste collector

Waste collector

A waste collector is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and remove refuse and recyclables from residential, commercial, industrial or other collection site for further processing and disposal...

, beachcomber

Beachcombing

Beachcombing and beachcomber are words with multiple, but related, meanings that have evolved over time.A beachcomber is someone who "combs" the beach, and the intertidal zone in general, looking for things of value, interest or utility....

 and truck driver. During his mid-20's, he was encouraged by his brother-in-law, Allan King

Allan King

Allan Winton King, OC was a Canadian film director.-Life:During the Depression, King attended Henry Hudson Elementary School in Kitsilano, Vancouver...

, to take a camera technician course at the University of British Columbia

University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...

.

Leiterman took to the film camera

Camera

A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...

 like a natural. He sold his car to buy a 16mm camera, and proceeded to shoot stock footage

Stock footage

Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...

, which he then sold to Canadian broadcasters like the CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

. Hired by Allan King as a second camera operator

Camera operator

A camera operator or cameraman is a professional operator of a film or video camera. In filmmaking, the leading cameraman is usually called a cinematographer, while a cameraman in a video production may be known as a television camera operator, video camera operator, or videographer, depending on...

 on a documentary, Leiterman went to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and, in 1962, co-founded Allan King Associates with him. The company focussed on news-related filmmaking. In 1963, Leiterman went to the Southern U.S. to shoot One More River

One More River

One More River is a 1934 film directed by James Whale. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures and starred Diana Wynyard. The film is based on a novel by John Galsworthy.-Cast:*Diana Wynyard - Claire Corven*Frank Lawton - Tony Croom...

, a look at racism

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

 in America. Over the next few years, his documentary work took him around the world.

In 1969, Leiterman shot the Allan King-produced A Married Couple, which was featured at the Director's Fortnight at Cannes

Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

 in 1970. Leiterman next began a series of collaborations with famed Canadian director Donald Shebib

Donald Shebib

Donald Shebib , often called Don Shebib, is a Canadian film director, writer, producer and editor. He gained prominence and critical acclaim in Canadian cinema for his 1970 movie Goin' Down the Road. The company travelled around Toronto in a station wagon and was supported by CFDC funding...

, starting with the Canadian classic Goin' Down The Road

Goin' Down the Road

Goin' Down the Road is a 1970 Canadian film directed by Donald Shebib and released in 1970. It chronicles the lives of two men from the Maritimes who move to Toronto in order to find a better life. It starred Doug McGrath, Paul Bradley, Jayne Eastwood and Cayle Chernin...

(1970), and followed by Between Friends

Between Friends (1973 film)

Between Friends is a 1973 Canadian crime film directed by Donald Shebib. It was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Michael Parks - Tony* Bonnie Bedelia - Ellie* Chuck Shamata - Chino* Henry Beckman - Will...

(1973) and Wedding In White

Wedding in White

Wedding in White is a Canadian drama film, released in 1972. The film was written and directed by William Fruet, based on his earlier play.-Synopsis:...

(1972). Leiterman used his documentary experience to provide a cinéma vérité look to his work.

Leiterman continued to shoot a variety of material over the following three decades, from Canadian features such as My American Cousin

My American Cousin

My American Cousin is a Canadian drama film, released in 1985. Written and directed by Sandy Wilson based on her own childhood, the film stars Margaret Langrick as Sandy Wilcox, a pre-teen girl growing up on a ranch in rural Penticton, British Columbia in the late 1950s...

(1985) to American made-for-TV movies such as Stephen King

Stephen King

Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...

's It

It (1990 film)

It is a 1990 horror television miniseries based on the novel of the same name. The story revolves around an inter-dimensional predatory life-form that is simply referred to as "It", which has the ability to transform itself into its prey's worst fears allowing it to exploit the fears and phobias...

(1990). His cinematography

Cinematography

Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...

 work earned him a Canadian Film Award

Canadian Film Award

The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually except in 1974 when Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation that year....

 (1975) a Genie Award

Genie Award

Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...

, (1981), three Emmy Award

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

s, and, in 2000, the Kodak New Century Award.

During the late 1990s, Leiterman shot the Canadian TV series Cold Squad

Cold Squad

Cold Squad is a Canadian police procedural television series first broadcast in 1998 that followed the investigations of a part of the Vancouver Police Department Homicide Division tasked with solving cold cases, the titular Cold Squad, as led by Sergeant Ali McCormick .The cast of Cold Squad was...

. He taught cinematography for a brief time in the Advanced TV & Film program and Media Arts program at Sheridan College

Sheridan College

Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a diploma and degree granting Canadian polytechnic institute with approximately 15,000 full time students and 35,000 continuing education students...

 in Oakville, Ontario

Oakville, Ontario

Oakville is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. As of the 2006 census the population was 165,613.-History:In 1793, Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road...

, then finally retired.

Leiterman died on July 14, 2005 at age 70 due to complications from a rare disease called Amyloidosis

Amyloidosis

In medicine, amyloidosis refers to a variety of conditions whereby the body produces "bad proteins", denoted as amyloid proteins, which are abnormally deposited in organs and/or tissues and cause harm. A protein is described as being amyloid if, due to an alteration in its secondary structure, it...

.

External links

• Canadian Film Encyclopedia [A publication of The Film Reference Library/a division of the Toronto International Film Festival Group]
• Kodak Canada: Richard Leiterman
• Take One (Canadian film magazine): "Trial by fire: a journey with Richard Leiterman - cinematographer" (interview, 2002)
• Richard Leiterman fonds at Queen’s University Archives