Robert Gottschalk
Encyclopedia
Robert Gottschalk was an American
camera technician and founder of Panavision
.
in Minnesota
, he moved to California
to become a filmmaker.
shop and later got to know a nearby outfit that made underwater filming equipment for Jacques-Yves Cousteau
. Equipment restrictions at the time made wide-angle filming difficult, and Gottschalk began experimenting with anamorphic lens equipment patented by Henri Chrétien
. In 1953, the CinemaScope
process, based on Chrétien's patents, was purchased and named by 20th Century Fox
. While the camera lenses were now available, the process required projection lenses as well. Gottschalk teamed up with several colleagues and began offering projection lenses under the name Panavision, which used prismatic rather than cylindrical optics. This led to a successful expansion into lenses for cameras which are still widely used. Gottschalk was a two time Academy Award winner, for both the Panavision lens and the Panaflex camera. This second Oscar was awarded shortly before his death.
in Los Angeles
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
camera technician and founder of Panavision
Panavision
Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses during the widescreen boom in the 1950s, Panavision expanded its product...
.
Early Life
His father, Gustav, was an architect who built a number of hotels in Chicago, IL, where he lived with his wife, Anna. Gustav's success left the family well-off financially and influenced Gottschalk's interest in film. After Gottschalk graduated with a degree in theater and arts from Carleton CollegeCarleton College
Carleton College is an independent non-sectarian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. The college enrolls 1,958 undergraduate students, and employs 198 full-time faculty members. In 2012 U.S...
in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, he moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to become a filmmaker.
Career
He bought an interest in a cameraCamera
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...
shop and later got to know a nearby outfit that made underwater filming equipment for Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water...
. Equipment restrictions at the time made wide-angle filming difficult, and Gottschalk began experimenting with anamorphic lens equipment patented by Henri Chrétien
Henri Chrétien
Henri Jacques Chrétien was a French astronomer and an inventor.Born in Paris, France, his most famous invention is the anamorphic widescreen process, that resulted in the CinemaScope, and the co-invention of the Ritchey-Chrétien telescope , which was anadvanced type of astronomical telescope, now...
. In 1953, the CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
process, based on Chrétien's patents, was purchased and named by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
. While the camera lenses were now available, the process required projection lenses as well. Gottschalk teamed up with several colleagues and began offering projection lenses under the name Panavision, which used prismatic rather than cylindrical optics. This led to a successful expansion into lenses for cameras which are still widely used. Gottschalk was a two time Academy Award winner, for both the Panavision lens and the Panaflex camera. This second Oscar was awarded shortly before his death.
Death
Gottschalk was found in his Los Angeles home stabbed to death in 1982. Gottschalk's lover Laos Chuman was convicted of his murder and sentenced in July of 1983 to 26 years to life in prison. Gottschalk was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park CemeteryWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
The Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood....
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.