Bill Butler

Bill Butler

1921-04-07 Cripple Creek, Colorado, USA 87 Credits

Biography

Wilmer Cable Butler (April 7, 1921 – April 5, 2023) was an American cinematographer who was known for his work on The Conversation (1974), Jaws (1975), and three Rocky sequels. Butler also completed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) after Haskell Wexler was fired from the production, and was subsequently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

Known For

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Complete Filmography

TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR

TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR

2023

Camera Technician

8.2

A concert film documenting Taylor Swift's record-breaking Eras Tour (2023-2024). Filmed during the Los Angeles shows, the film captures the tour's ten...

The Making of 'Rocky vs. Drago'

The Making of 'Rocky vs. Drago'

2021

as Self (archive photos)

5.7
Acting

Fight alongside Sylvester Stallone as he creates a brand-new director's cut of Rocky IV: ROCKY VS. DRAGO. This feature-length documentary offers a per...

Spielberg

Spielberg

2017

as Self

7.6
Acting

A documentary on the life and career of one of the most influential film directors of all time, Steven Spielberg.

The Fabulous Allan Carr

The Fabulous Allan Carr

2017

as Self

5.2
Acting

Armed with a limitless Rolodex and a Benedict Canyon enclave with its own disco, Allan Carr threw the Hollywood parties that defined the 1970s. A prod...

The Shark Is Still Working: The Impact & Legacy of "Jaws"

The Shark Is Still Working: The Impact & Legacy of "Jaws"

2009

as Self

7.2
Acting

After three decades, Jaws continues to intrigue, thrill and frighten viewers. This documentary focuses on the many ways in which Jaws has helped to sh...

Evil Angel

Evil Angel

2009

Director of Photography

4.9
Directing

Set in present day Chicago, the ancient avenging demon Lilith, attempts to destroy a young paramedic's life while destroying anyone who interferes wit...

Limousine

Limousine

2008

Director of Photography

4.4
Directing

A young female limo driver meets a young male hooker who says he just accidentally killed his "John". They drive around the city looking for the clien...

Redline

Redline

2007

Director of Photography

5.0
Directing

A gorgeous young automobile fanatic--and front to the hottest unsigned band on the West coast--finds herself caught up in illegal drag-racing competit...

The Plague

The Plague

2006

Director of Photography

4.8
Directing

Ten years have passed since the world's children fell into a coma. Tonight they're waking up and all hell is breaking loose. An unholy battle between ...

Cinematographer Style

Cinematographer Style

2006

as Self

6.8
Acting

110 of the world's top cinematographers discuss the art of how and why films look the way they do.

Funny Money

Funny Money

2006

Director of Photography

5.2
Directing

Henry Perkins, a mild-mannered accountant, accidentally trades briefcases with another man, to find out that there's a million dollars inside. Henry t...

Frailty

Frailty

2002

Director of Photography

7.0
Directing

A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to k...

Joe and Max

Joe and Max

2002

Director of Photography

4.9
Directing

True story of boxers Joe Louis and Max Schmeling and their enduring friendship.

Hendrix

Hendrix

2000

Director of Photography

6.0
Directing

Biography of rock star Jimi Hendrix chronicles his early career, including a stint with Little Richard who fired him for getting too flamboyant, to hi...

Passing Glory

Passing Glory

1999

Director of Photography

5.8
Directing

A true story of a priest (Andre Braugher) in New Orleans who formed a group of black players and challenged an all-white prep school basketball team i...

Don King: Only in America

Don King: Only in America

1997

Director of Photography

6.5
Directing

A cinematic portrait of the famous fight promoter and boxing manager.

Deceiver

Deceiver

1997

Director of Photography

5.9
Directing

The gruesome death of a prostitute brings suspicion on one of her clients, James Wayland, a brilliant, self-destructive and epileptic heir to a textil...

Anaconda

Anaconda

1997

Director of Photography

5.2
Directing

A 'National Geographic' film crew is taken hostage by an insane hunter, who takes them along on his quest to capture the world's largest — and deadlie...

Dark Skies

Dark Skies

1996

Cinematography

8.0

In 1960s America, a young couple struggle to expose the truth about a hidden alien invasion, while a secret government organization follows its own ag...

Flipper

Flipper

1996

Director of Photography

5.5
Directing

Sandy Ricks is sent by his mom to Coral Key, a rustic island in the Florida keys, to spend the summer with his uncle Porter Ricks. Sandy dislikes ever...

The Making of 'Jaws'

The Making of 'Jaws'

1995

as Self

6.7
Acting

A documentary on the making of one of the greatest films ever made, filled with trivia, interviews from cast and crew and never-before-seen footage.

A Walton Wedding

A Walton Wedding

1995

Director of Photography

Directing

In 1964, John-Boy Walton is planning his wedding to Janet Gilchrist, the editor of a New York fashion magazine and the daughter of a diplomat. The two...

Beethoven's 2nd

Beethoven's 2nd

1993

Director of Photography

5.5
Directing

Beethoven is back -- and this time, he has a whole brood with him now that he's met his canine match, Missy, and fathered a family. The only problem i...

Cop & ½

Cop & ½

1993

Director of Photography

4.5
Directing

When a pint-sized 8-year-old kid witnesses a murder he offers to help the police, if they make him a cop, too. Saddled with this streetwise sidekick, ...

Sniper

Sniper

1993

Director of Photography

6.2
Directing

Tough guy Thomas Beckett is an US soldier working in the Panamanian jungle. His job is to seek out rebels and remove them using his sniper skills. Bec...

Visions of Light

Visions of Light

1992

as Self

7.0
Acting

Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips fr...

Hot Shots!

Hot Shots!

1991

Director of Photography

6.6
Directing

The gang that created Airplane and The Naked Gun sets its sights on Top Gun in this often hilarious spoof starring Charlie Sheen, who previously only ...

Graffiti Bridge

Graffiti Bridge

1990

Director of Photography

5.0
Directing

It's got that Purple Rain feeling through and though. And it's got The Kid, too! For the first time since Purple Rain, Prince is back as The Kid. And ...

When We Were Young

When We Were Young

1989

Director of Photography

Directing

A group of young people in 1959 get ready to set out on their journey to adulthood.

Child's Play

Child's Play

1988

Director of Photography

6.7
Directing

An innocent-looking doll is inhabited by the soul of a serial killer who refuses to die.

Wildfire

Wildfire

1988

Director of Photography

4.0
Directing

Since they met the first time in boarding school as little kids, it was obvious that the orphans Kay and Dave would become a couple. But at sixteen, D...

Biloxi Blues

Biloxi Blues

1988

Director of Photography

6.3
Directing

Eugene, an aspiring writer from Brooklyn, is drafted into the US Army during the final months of World War II. For his basic training, the Army sends ...

Bates Motel

Bates Motel

1987

Director of Photography

4.3
Directing

A mentally disturbed man, who roomed with the late Norman Bates at a psychiatric facility, inherits the infamous Bates Motel after his death and attem...

Big Trouble

Big Trouble

1986

Director of Photography

5.3
Directing

Leonard Hoffman is an insurance salesman struggling to make ends meet. The fact that he has triplet sons who all want to go to Yale isn't making thing...

Rocky IV

Rocky IV

1985

Director of Photography

7.1
Directing

After Apollo Creed is killed by Ivan Drago in a match, Rocky Balboa becomes depressed and becomes determined to get revenge.

Beer

Beer

1985

Director of Photography

4.0
Directing

An advertising firm, desperate to keep an account from a financially-ailing brewery, concocts a macho ad campaign centering on three losers who inadve...

A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire

1984

Director of Photography

5.4
Directing

As Blanche’s fragile world crumbles, she turns to her sister Stella for solace – but her downward spiral brings her face to face with the brutal, unfo...

The Sting II

The Sting II

1983

Director of Photography

4.7
Directing

Hooker and Gondorf pull a con on Macalinski, an especially nasty mob boss with the help of Veronica, a new grifter. They convince this new victim that...

Rocky III

Rocky III

1982

Director of Photography

6.9
Directing

After an intense fight with Clubber Lang and the death of his trainer Mickey, Rocky Balboa is left devastated. Former rival Apollo Creed steps in to h...

Killing at Hell's Gate

Killing at Hell's Gate

1981

Director of Photography

6.0
Directing

A whitewater rafting party is terrorized by a group of loggers who, after accidentally killing one of the rafters in a drunken session of target pract...

Stripes

Stripes

1981

Director of Photography

6.6
Directing

John Winger, an indolent sad sack in his 30s, impulsively joins the US Army after losing his job, his girlfriend and his apartment.

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia

1981

Director of Photography

5.7
Directing

An aspiring country singer and his feisty younger sister/manager struggle to reach their dreams of Nashville stardom-as long as she can keep her broth...

Death Ray 2000

Death Ray 2000

1981

Director of Photography

5.0
Directing

A flamboyant secret agent from UNIT, a secret counterespionage group, teams with a lady spy to retrieve a stolen device capable of destroying the worl...

It's My Turn

It's My Turn

1980

Director of Photography

5.6
Directing

A successful but stressed mathematics professor goes to her father's wedding and falls in love with her father's bride's son, a prematurely retired pr...

Can't Stop the Music

Can't Stop the Music

1980

Director of Photography

5.2
Directing

A loose biography of seminal disco hit-makers The Village People and their composer Jacques Morali.

Rocky II

Rocky II

1979

Director of Photography

7.3
Directing

After Rocky goes the distance with champ Apollo Creed, both try to put the fight behind them and move on. Rocky settles down with Adrian but can't put...

Ice Castles

Ice Castles

1978

Director of Photography

7.3
Directing

Alexis is on top of the world until a tragic accident dashes her hopes and dreams of becoming a world-class figure skater. Only with the help of those...

Grease

Grease

1978

Director of Photography

7.4
Directing

Australian good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, wi...

Damien - Omen II

Damien - Omen II

1978

Director of Photography

6.4
Directing

Since the sudden and suspicious deaths of his parents, young Damien has been in the charge of his wealthy aunt and uncle and enrolled in a military sc...

Uncle Joe Shannon

Uncle Joe Shannon

1978

Director of Photography

7.0
Directing

A trumpet player, self-destructive after the death of his wife and child in a fire, befriends a crippled youngster and together they battle obstacles ...

Capricorn One

Capricorn One

1977

Director of Photography

6.8
Directing

In order to protect the reputation of the American space program, a team of NASA administrators turn the first Mars mission into a phony Mars landing....

Demon Seed

Demon Seed

1977

Director of Photography

5.9
Directing

A scientist creates Proteus, an organic supercomputer with artificial intelligence which becomes obsessed with human beings, and in particular the cre...

Mary White

Mary White

1977

Director of Photography

5.0
Directing

The true story of the relationship between famed author William Allen White and his teenaged daughter Mary, who died in a horseback-riding accident at...

Raid on Entebbe

Raid on Entebbe

1976

Director of Photography

6.0
Directing

Based on a true operation by Israeli commandos. An Air France flight is hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The airplane la...

Alex & the Gypsy

Alex & the Gypsy

1976

Director of Photography

4.6
Directing

A bail bondsman falls in love with one of his "customers" — a gypsy girl, who's been accused of attempted murder.

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings

1976

Director of Photography

6.1
Directing

Top baseball pitcher Bingo Long is fed up with how his Negro League team owner treats him, so he forms his own lineup, recruiting big-hitting Leon Car...

Lipstick

Lipstick

1976

Director of Photography

5.2
Directing

An aspiring avant-garde composer rapes a fashion model. When she takes him to court, she's slut-shamed by the defense and the man is exonerated. But j...

Fear on Trial

Fear on Trial

1975

Director of Photography

9.0
Directing

The story of John Henry Faulk, a radio/TV personality of the 1950s, who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. Faulk sued the organization that was ...

Jaws

Jaws

1975

Director of Photography

7.7
Directing

When the seaside community of Amity finds itself under attack by a dangerous great white shark, the town's chief of police, a young marine biologist, ...

The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery

The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery

1975

Director of Photography

5.2
Directing

Film noir parody with a private eye trying to solve the murder of his milkman.

Hustling

Hustling

1975

Director of Photography

6.0
Directing

Based on Gail Sheehy's book, this film chronicles how a reporter for a New York City magazine decided to investigate the city's prostitution industry ...

Target Risk

Target Risk

1975

Director of Photography

Directing

A professional courier's girlfriend is abducted, and the kidnappers threaten to kill her unless the courier helps them fake a diamond robbery.

Vampira

Vampira

1974

Editor

5.2

In order to revive his long hibernating bride, Vampira, Count Dracula takes blood samples from several beautiful models, but during the transfusion, V...

The Conversation

The Conversation

1974

Director of Photography

7.5
Directing

A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.

The Execution of Private Slovik

The Execution of Private Slovik

1974

Director of Photography

7.2
Directing

The story of Eddie Slovik, who was executed by the Army in 1945, the only American soldier to be executed for desertion since the Civil War.

Indict and Convict

Indict and Convict

1974

Director of Photography

Directing

A prosecutor must try his friend, a deputy district attorney, who has been charged with murdering his wife and her lover.

I Heard the Owl Call My Name

I Heard the Owl Call My Name

1973

Director of Photography

7.0
Directing

A young priest named mark is sent as a vicar to a native American village in B.C. Canada, there he learns of faith and humanity, as he watches their c...

Sunshine

Sunshine

1973

Director of Photography

6.9
Directing

A young woman living in the woods with her husband, a struggling musician, and her young daughter, discovers she has terminal cancer. She begins to ta...

Deliver Us from Evil

Deliver Us from Evil

1973

Director of Photography

7.3
Directing

Several men hiking in the mountains discover an injured skyjacker who parachuted from a plane with $600,000. They kill him, then start fighting each o...

Running Wild

Running Wild

1973

Director of Photography

Directing

A photographer travels to the stunning vistas of Colorado and becomes involved in an effort to save a herd of wild horses.

Savage

Savage

1973

Director of Photography

5.6
Directing

A TV reporter investigates compromising photographs of a nominee to the Supreme Court.

Hickey & Boggs

Hickey & Boggs

1972

Director of Photography

5.8
Directing

Two veteran private eyes trigger a criminal reign of terror with their search for a missing girl. | Al Hickey (Cosby) & Frank Boggs (Culp) are two ja...

Deliverance

Deliverance

1972

Second Unit Director of Photography

7.3
Directing

Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip...

Deathmaster

Deathmaster

1972

Director of Photography

4.7
Directing

A mysterious, charismatic stranger attracts a cult-like following of aimless young hippies, only to reveal himself to be a vampire.

Melinda

Melinda

1972

Director of Photography

4.0
Directing

A slick, smooth-talking, womanizing young black DJ falls hard for an enigmatic woman he's just met. Things take a turn for the worse, though, when she...

Something Evil

Something Evil

1972

Director of Photography

5.4
Directing

A young couple moves into a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania. What they don't know is that there is an unseen presence in the house, and that it wants ...

The Return of Count Yorga

The Return of Count Yorga

1971

Director of Photography

5.4
Directing

Count Yorga continues to prey on the local community while living by a nearby orphanage. He also intends to take a new wife, while feeding his bevy of...

Drive, He Said

Drive, He Said

1971

Director of Photography

6.0
Directing

Hector is a star basketball player for the College basketball team he plays for, the Leopards. His girlfriend, Olive, doesn't know whether to stay wit...

A Clear and Present Danger

A Clear and Present Danger

1970

Director of Photography

Directing

The son of a U.S. Senator takes on the cause of clean air when a friend dies of emphysema.

Adam's Woman

Adam's Woman

1970

Director of Photography

7.6
Directing

Adam is a young American wrongly accused of being an accomplice to murder while on shore leave in Liverpool. He is sentenced to death by hanging but t...

Fearless Frank

Fearless Frank

1969

Director of Photography

4.8
Directing

A country boy arrives in Chicago, gets killed by some gangsters, and returns to life with superhuman powers in this satirical look at movie genres.

The Rain People

The Rain People

1969

Director of Photography

6.6
Directing

When a housewife finds out she is pregnant, she runs out of town looking for freedom to reevaluate her life decisions.

A Space to Grow

A Space to Grow

1968

Cinematography

6.2

A Space to Grow is a 1968 American short documentary film produced by Thomas P. Kelly Jr.. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary ...

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

1966

Sound Editor

6.0

A wily slave must unite a virgin courtesan and his young smitten master to earn his freedom.

The Bold Men

The Bold Men

1965

Cinematography

A documentary about men who are courageous enough to risk their lives undertaking challenges, sports-related and not, that are at the limit of human c...

Star Trek: The Cage

Star Trek: The Cage

1965

Assistant Camera

5.2

The first pilot episode of Star Trek. Led by Captain Christopher Pike, the crew of the starship Enterprise investigates of a far-off planet which was ...

The People vs. Paul Crump

The People vs. Paul Crump

1962

Director of Photography

Directing

An impassioned plea for the release of a young man sentenced to die in an Illinois prison.