Ralph Woolsey to Receive ASC Presidents Award

LOS ANGELES, December 3, 2002--Ralph Woolsey, ASC will receive theAmerican Society of Cinematographers Presidents Award, which isbestowed annually to an individual who has made unique and enduringcontributions to advancing the art of filmmaking. Woolsey will be fetedduring the 17th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards on February16, 2003, at the Century Plaza Hotel.

"Ralph Woolsey has earned the respect and admiration of peers forhis innovative spirit and artistry as a cinematographer," says OwenRoizman, ASC, chairman of the organization's Awards Committee. "Thistribute also recognizes his dedication to advancing the art offilmmaking. Ralph has mentored hundreds of students at film schools,teaching the skills and aesthetics necessary for success."

Woolsey began his career shooting wildlife and conservation filmsfor the state of Minnesota during the late 1930s. After photographingtraining films for the United States. Air Force during World War II, hepacked his belongings in a trailer and migrated to California inpursuit of his dream to become a Hollywood cinematographer.

For about a dozen years, Woolsey shot documentaries, industrial andother non-fiction films, and he taught cinematography classes at theUniversity of Southern California (USC) until he became a contractcinematographer for Warner Bros. in 1957. During the next five years,he compiled nearly 140 hours of credits on such classic black-and-whitetelevision series as Maverick, Cheyenne, Sunset Strip and Hawaiian Eye.Soon after, he shot early color shows including Batman and Mr.Roberts.

With two previous nominations, Woolsey earned an Emmy in 1968 forhis innovative camerawork on It Takes a Thief. During the 1970s and'80s, he added such memorable feature films as Little Fauss and BigHalsy, The Culpepper Cattle Company, Lifeguard, The New Centurions, TheIceman Cometh and The Great Santini, and the telefilms I Know Why theCaged Bird Sings and A Girl Named Sooner to his impressive body ofwork.

"Ralph Woolsey is a talented and unselfish artist who has taughtmany students and inspired countless colleagues, including myself, withhis total dedication to his profession," says ASC President StevenPoster. "He deserves this recognition and it is our privilege topresent it to him."

Previous recipients of the ASC Presidents Award include actor RobertDuvall; visual effects visionaries Linwood Dunn, ASC, Hans Koenekamp,ASC and Douglas Trumbull; Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown; cameradesigners Tak Miyagishima and Albert Mayer, Jr.; documentary filmmakerAlbert Maysles; film archivist Kemp Niver, ASC; and cinematographersWilliam Clothier, ASC, Guy Green, BSC and Charles Wheeler, ASC.

Woolsey was recruited to teach cinematography at the USC film schoolin 1950. He has held filmmaking and cinematography classes and seminarsfor all or part of 17 years at USC, the American Film Institute and SanDiego State University. Woolsey served as president of the ASC in 1983.He became a member of the organization in 1956, and will celebrate his50th anniversary in 2006.

The ASC was chartered in 1919 for the purpose of advancing the artof filmmaking. From the beginning, membership has been by invitationbased on the individual's body of narrative film work. There are some230 members in many parts of the world today, and another 100 associatemembers from allied disciplines that support the art and craft ofcinematography. For more information on the ASC Outstanding AchievementAwards, visit the ASC website http://www.theasc.com.