Harry Stradling Jr. Dies: ‘The Way We Were’ Cinematographer Was 92

REX/Shutterstock

Harry Stradling Jr., the cinematographer behind the lens of The Way We Were, Little Big Man, 1776 and numerous episodes of Gunsmoke, among many others, died October 17 at the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills. He was 92.

Steven Poster, President of the International Cinematographers Guild, called Stradling Jr. “a senior spokesperson for this industry.”

“I grew up seeing his name on Gunsmoke,” said Poster. “He shot so many wonderful movies. He just had a quality about him that was stately. Every time I met him he had so much aplomb.”

In a career that stretched from classic 1960s TV westerns including Gunsmoke and Cimarron Strip though ’70s big-screen hits like The Way We Were, Rooster Cogburn and 1776, and well into the ’80s with Micki + Maude, Blind Date and Caddyshack II, Stradling earned two Oscar nominations (1776, The Way We Were) and an Emmy nomination for 1984’s George Washington miniseries on CBS.

In the 1980s, he worked on four Blake Edwards films: S.O.B., Micki + Maude, A Fine Mess and Blind Date.

He was the son of cinematographer Harry Stradling (A Streetcar Name Desire, Funny Girl, The Picture of Dorian Gray, My Fair Lady).

Other credits include 1981’s Buddy Buddy, 1980’s Carny and Up the Academy, 1978’s Go Tell the Spartans and Convoy, 1976’s Midway, 1973’s The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, ’71’s Support Your Local Gunfighter and ’68’s With Six You Get Eggroll, among many others.