David Laurence Quaid

FALMOUTH — David Laurence Quaid, a World War II combat cameraman who went on to become an award-winning cinematographer and university professor, died Aug. 19, 2010, at Woodbriar in Falmouth. He was 90.

His wife of 60 years, Dorothy L. Quaid, died in December 2007.

David was born in 1920 in Glendale, N.Y. Early on he displayed a bent for outdoor adventure, joining the Boy Scouts and achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. Inspired as a Depression-era lad by an article on newsreel photography in Boy's Life Magazine, he purchased an obsolete camera and offered his early attempts to Paramount, which paid him $1.25 per usable foot of newsreel — far more than he was earning as a copy boy for the City News Association.

If his future career was not already determined then, it certainly was by going absent without leave in the Army to find and join the legendary Merrill's Marauders, a long-range penetration special-forces unit assigned to capture strategic points behind Japanese lines in the jungles of Burma. In his assignment as a member of the 164th Signal Photo Company, his 35 mm camera became as important as his rifle and machete.

Though he suffered a myriad of tropical diseases and lost 50 pounds during the war, his only hospitalization was for a broken leg incurred when he was hit by a prosaic sack of mule feed during an air supply drop. He told his 1998 interviewer that his survival was partly a matter of will. "I've been shot at so much I just can't tell you," he said then. "Sooner or later, a good combat cameraman will be a dead one. "¦ You just have to feel a little lucky." His military decorations included two Bronze Stars and the Legion of Merit, the latter awarded for exceptionally outstanding service and generally reserved for commanders or very senior officers.

After the war he went into commercial cinematography and direction, filming the very first television commercial — for Ipana toothpaste — and heading his own production company. Many of his TV ads won international awards, including the Grand Prix at Cannes, and 10 of the industry's coveted Clio awards — three in a row for best cinematography. David's work in Hollywood feature films included "The Swimmer" (1966), starring Burt Lancaster; "Jenny" (1970), starring Marlo Thomas and Alan Alda; and "Pretty Poison" (1968), starring Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld, for all of which he served as director of photography. His documentary films included the 1961 Academy Award winner "Project Hope," which detailed the maiden voyage of the hospital ship SS Hope to Indonesia. He also served as director of photography for American Playhouse's "Concealed Enemies," which took the Emmy Award in 1984 for best miniseries.

David's insatiable curiosity combined with his quest for perfection took him into his workshop, where he developed numerous instruments and techniques that have become industry standards. He adapted the Questar telescope for use in long-lens cinematography; he was the first to use a zoom lens for the bulk of a feature film ("The Swimmer"); he helped develop a number of gels and filters, as well as an automatic-exposure system for stop-motion 35 mm photography; and he modified cameras to accept a lens designed for X-ray motion pictures for available-light night filming.

David was valued by co-workers for his labor leadership, serving as president of the motion picture camera union in New York (receiving their coveted Billy Bitzer Award for Lifetime Achievement) and as a member of the Directors Guild of America. Later in his career he devoted himself to sharing his expertise and inspiring students, teaching at Boston University, New York University, the School of Visual Arts and the Rochester Institute of Photography, among others.

He also contributed to textbooks on lighting and motion picture photography, and wrote a 400-page autobiography — an unpublished work tracing his stories of the Depression, his fight behind Japanese lines and the always-entertaining antics of the film business.

In his final days, he confided in his daughter that he was not saddened by the prospect of death, feeling that he had lived a full and rich life. His motto was "turning defeat into victory "¦ daily," which he undoubtedly did up until his last breath.

He leaves a daughter, Diane Quaid of Teaticket; a sister, Geraldine Ryan of New York; nephews and nieces Geoffrey Erb, Rob and David Blake, Patricia Ford and Kevin and Rob Ryan of New York, Donald and Andrea Quaid of Maine, Stephen Blake of Washington, D.C., Tom Ryan of Wisconsin, Kathleen Blake of New Mexico, and Gerri Todd of California.

He was predeceased by his brother, Donald Quaid, and sisters Dorothy Erb and Delores Blake.

Visiting hours will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23, at Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 475 Main St., Falmouth.

A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 24, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 840 Sandwich Road, East Falmouth.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in his name may be made to "Greater New York Councils BSA," Queens Council Special Campership Appeal, 350 Fifth Ave., #430, New York, NY 10118, to help fund camping trips for underprivileged Scouts. Or donate to the charity of your choice.

For online guest book and directions, www.ccgfuneralhome.com.