Charles Rosher Jr. was a cinematographer best known for his work on the Robert Altman films 3 Women and A Wedding.
1977’s 3 Women starred Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule and followed the story of a young woman who works at a spa in the California desert. A Wedding, released in 1978, starred Carol Burnett and Desi Arnaz Jr., and was about a woman who marries into a wealthy family.
Rosher Jr. also worked on the films Adam at Six A.M., starring Michael Douglas; The Baby Maker; The Late Show, starring Art Carney and Lily Tomlin, Semi-Tough, starring Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson; Movie Movie, starring George C. Scott; The Onion Field; Heartbeeps, with Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters; and Police Academy 6: City Under Siege.
Additionally, he worked on the television movies The Cat Creature, starring Meredith Baxter; The Tenth Month, starring Carol Burnett; Princess Daisy (based on the novel by Judith Krantz), starring Lindsay Wagner; Runaway Father; and Jake Lassiter: Justice on the Bayou. He also contributed to the television series CBS Summer Playhouse and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
After graduating from Beverly Hills High, School Rosher Jr. got his start as a film loader for director Edward Dmytryk on the 1957 film Raintree County. Starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Eva Marie Saint, the Civil War love story was nominated for four Oscars and one Golden Globe.
Rosher Jr. continued to work as a camera operator at the beginning of his career. He contributed to the television series The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Mission: Impossible and Mannix, as well as the films Incubus, The Professionals, 2000 Years Later and The Organization, starring Sydney Poitier.
Rosher Jr. was the son of Charles Rosher, one of the most influential cinematographers in history. The senior Rosher was a founding member of the American Society of Cinematographers and was Mary Pickford’s personal favorite director of photography. He was also a two-time Oscar winner, including a win for his work on the 1927 film Sunrise, which was awarded at the very first Academy Awards ceremony.
Rosher Jr. died October 14, 2015, in Beverly Hills, California. He was 80.
