Donald Peterman

Donald William Peterman (January 3, 1932 – February 5, 2011) was an American Academy Award-nominated cinematographer whose numerous feature film credits included Flashdance, Men in Black, Cocoon and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. He was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the American Society of Cinematographers since 1984.

Peterman was born in Los Angeles, on January 3, 1932. He graduated from Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, California, before serving in the United States Army during the early 1950s. Peterman began shooting documentaries for the U.S. Army during his time in the service.

Peterman began his professional career as a clapper loader for Hal Roach Studios at the age of 22 after leaving the U.S. Army. He departed Hal Roach Studios for Cascade Studios, where he worked the optical printer and animation camera. Peterman left Cascade Studios to on the Lassie television series, but later returned to Cascade Studios to become director of photography for the studio's television commercial productions.

Peterman made his film debut as director of photography in the 1979 film, When a Stranger Calls.

Peterman was nominated for an Academy Award for cinematography on the 1983 film, Flashdance, starring Jennifer Beals. However, he lost to Sven Nykvist at the 56th Academy Awards. Peterman received his second nomination for in 1986 for his work on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which was directed by Leonard Nimoy, but lost to Chris Menges at the 59th Academy Awards in 1987. Peterman's many other film credits included Splash in 1984, Cocoon in 1985, 1991's Point Break and the comedy Get Shorty, which was released in 1995, and Men In Black in 1997.

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