Allan Green, a well-known DP for 35 years in New York City, died last month (4/5) of a heart attack in Albuquerque. He was 72.
Green worked on major advertising campaigns for such clients as IBM, Sony, Eastman Kodak and Polaroid. He lensed the original "Charlie Chaplin" IBM spot and the famous Brother Dominick :30 for Xerox, with the tag line, "It’s a miracle!"
Production companies and directors Green worked with regularly in the 1980s include George Gomes of the former Gomes-Loew, New York; Stan Dragoti of EUE/Screen Gems, New York; Bill D’Elia of now defunct D’Elia, Uricola & Platt, New York; and Suzanne Cummings of Inserts Film Production, New York.
Most of Green’s jobs were on a large scale, like lighting up Times Square to shoot Frank Sinatra ("you got five minutes") and the cast of Cats for an "I Love New York" campaign; or lensing an A Chorus Line-type dance story from exquisite angles within a Broadway theater for a memorable A&W spot. His range spanned babies, BMWs and Belmont (featuring a sensational slow-motion shot of the horses breaking from the gate).
Green also shot assorted celebrities: Bernadette Peters in a Rolls-Royce for American Express; Lynn Redgrave peeling off clothes for Weight-Watchers; Jason Robards, Jr., for Control Data; Bill Cosby for Jell-O; and Nancy Walker for Procter & Gamble’s "quicker picker-upper" Bounty paper towels.
Green worked 10 years for Suzanne Cummings at Inserts, where he directed and shot innumerable products for major agencies, frequently matching original photography flawlessly. Tabletop had its challenges—which Green enjoyed, according to Cummings.
"He was able to work fast with good humor and great results," Cummings recalled. "There were times of some impatience when rookie agency personnel were given the ‘insert’ assignment, and that frustration was understandable."
Green was born on Aug. 12, 1928, in Brooklyn, N.Y. He served in the Korean War, and received training in cameras during that period. For several years, he worked at New York camera house F&B CECO, where he learned the intricacies of all the equipment. Subsequently, he joined IATSE as a DP.
A devotee of classical music and opera, he met his second wife, Julia, an opera singer, at a New Year’s Eve Party at his home in Pearl River, N.J., in ’91. They moved to Albuquerque, built a home and lived there for the past eight years.
Green is survived by his wife Julia; a stepdaughter, Leah; son Mike Green of N.Y. (who’s served as Woody Allen’s DP); son Mark Green of Las Vegas; and daughter Lisa Green of San Ramone, Calif. Allan Green’s nephew, Arthur Green, is a commercial DP.
Remembrances may be made to: The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), 3225 N. First Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, www.darksky.org. The IDA is a nonprofit educational and scientific organization that hopes to stop adverse environmental impact on nighttime skies. Allan Green was a paraprofessional in astronomy and built his own large-format telescopes.
