Fred Koenekamp

Fred J. Koenekamp, A.S.C., was a cinematographer best known for his Oscar-winning work on the 1974 film The Towering Inferno. He earned two other Oscar nominations for Patton and Islands in the Stream.

Koenekamp also lensed the films Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Papillon, Fun with Dick and Jane and The Amityville Horror.

Additionally, he contributed to the television series The Lieutenant, The Outer Limits, Mission: Impossible, Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., for which he received two Emmy nominations.

Konenekamp served as an apprentice for 16 years before finally working as a director of photography. He earned his first credit as an underwater camera assistant on the 1953 movie Dangerous When Wet, starring Esther Wiliams.

In 2005, the American Society of Cinematographers honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Koenekamp died May 31, 2017, in Bonita Springs, Florida. He was 94.