Lester E. Mannix

Mannix, Lester E.
Lester Mannix, a native New York cameraman, passed away April 27, 2014 in San Francisco. His wife, Vicki, an early Pan Am stewardess ambassador, predeceased him. Born in 1925, he started his "career with a camera" at the New York Daily News in 1945, climbing to the top of the scaffolded north spire of St. Patrick's Cathedral to photograph workers doing repair work on the iconic NY landmark. His byline and photos were featured in the Daily News published on 12/08/1945. His beginnings as a press photographer led to becoming the nucleus of the News' television station WPIX news. He was instrumental in creating the first portable battery pack light - "The Frezzi" - and introduced sound to daily TV news shows with the use of a handheld 16mm sound camera. He moved to Fox-Movietone News traveling worldwide to film historic events in flat and newly developed Cinemascope. When Movietone merged with United Press International (UPI), he became the chief cameraman for that organization, UPITN, as well as director of Photography for the Commercial/Industrial Department. As a correspondent for the Department of Defense, he covered such diverse subjects as The Cuban Missile Crisis, Khrushchev's US Visit, Pope Paul, Queen Elizabeth, President Kennedy and other presidential trips and White House events. His 1964 groundbreaking coverage of the presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater, allowing him unprecedented access to the inner workings of the Goldwater team, included the very first footage and audio ever taken throughout a sustained run from behind-the-scenes of a major news story, and led to the production of a documentary of Goldwater. News segments for 60 Minutes (his last was in the 1980's in Tucson in collaboration with Mark Allan and Essanay Films) brought him to near and far reaching global locations. His fascination with lighting style and technique focused a new concentration on commercial and feature production cinematography. Many if not all of the big advertisers' products have been captured by his lens - Ford, GE, GM, DuPont, Coke, Pepsi and Alka Seltzer - in iconic award winning commercials and ads.
NBC, CBS, ABC, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Universal, Wylde Films, Fred Levinson Productions, Phil Landeck Productions, Film House, Winik Films, AVS - news, film and movies were Lester's forte and run in the Mannix family. "Eddie" (Edgar J.) Mannix of New Jersey was a cousin who became Vice President and General Manager of MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) Studios for the Lowe's family. Lester's family - daughter, Honey Mannix and son, Jim Mannix, grandchildren - Meleah and Clayton, and great grandchildren - Dahlia and William celebrated his life in a private ceremony in San Francisco on May 4th, 2014. www.halstedngray.com