David Shepard (film preservationist)

David Shepard
Born	October 22, 1940 New York City
Died	January 31, 2017 (aged 77) Medford, OR
Nationality	American
Occupation	Film preservationist
Known for	Responsible for many high quality video versions of silent films

David Haspel Shepard (October 22, 1940 – January 31, 2017) was a film preservationist whose company, Film Preservation Associates, is responsible for many high-quality video versions of silent films. Some come from the Blackhawk Films library (also owned by Shepard) and others from materials owned by private collectors and film archives around the world.

Shepard was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of Marjorie (née Markley) and Bertram Shepard. His father was an executive with the Grand Union grocery-store chain, and his mother a homemaker. When he was 11 years old his family moved to Tenafly, New Jersey.

As a teenager he filmed school football games for the coaches to study, and in the off-season began to make his own films with student actors. He graduated from Hamilton College, in Upstate New York, in 1962, with a BA in philosophy, and completed a Master's degree in American studies at the University of Pennsylvania in 1963.

Shepard began restoring films when he joined the American Film Institute in 1968 as one of their first staff members. In 1987, he bought the Blackhawk Films library.

In January 2017 he suffered a kidney failure, and was hospitalized. They discovered cancer in his lungs and he died shortly thereafter.

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