Early Life and Career
Ray Dennis Steckler was born in Reading, Pennsylvania where his grandmother, who largely raised him, nurtured his love of movies. At 15, upon receiving an 8mm home movie camera from his stepfather, Steckler shot an amateur pirate film with friends. After a stint in the United States Army, where he studied photography, he spent a year at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens. In 1959, Steckler and a friend drove to Hollywood, California to enter the film industry.
Steckler worked as a prop man before becoming assistant cameraman on the film, The World's Greatest Sinner, directed by and starring Timothy Carey. When the initial director of photography was fired, Steckler replaced him.
Continuing to work in cinematography in the Los Angeles area, Steckler acquired a union card and established himself at major studios, including Universal Studios. When he was reportedly fired for almost knocking an A-frame onto Alfred Hitchcock, Steckler turned to the B-movie circuit. Working with Arch Hall Sr.'s Fairway Pictures, Steckler started as cinematographer and sometimes actor in the vehicles for Hall's son, Arch Hall, Jr. Steckler made his directorial debut in the Hall vehicle Wild Guitar and co-starred under his onscreen name, Cash Flagg.
Read more about this topic: Ray Dennis Steckler
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or career:
“But she is early up and out,
To trim the year or strip its bones;”
—Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)
“You know all my life I’ve hated funerals. The fuss and bother never brings anybody back. It just spoils remembering them as they really are. And when I see people actually facing it that way, I have to act like a sap.”
—Jules Furthman (1888–1960)
“They want to play at being mothers. So let them. Expressing tenderness in their own way will not prevent girls from enjoying a successful career in the future; indeed, the ability to nurture is as valuable a skill in the workplace as the ability to lead.”
—Anne Roiphe (20th century)