Peter R. Gimbel (February 14, 1927 – July 12, 1987) was an American filmmaker and underwater photojournalist.

Biography

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, he was the son of Alva (née Bernheimer) and Bernard Feustman Gimbel and heir to the

Gimbels Gimbel Brothers (known simply as Gimbels) was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the comp ...

department store chain. His great grandfather was

Adam Gimbel Adam Gimbel (May 16, 1817 – June 28, 1896) was the founder of the Gimbels, Gimbel Brothers Company. Biography Gimbel was born to a German Jews, Jewish family in the Palatinate (region), Palatinate, then a part of Bavaria, in 1817 where he work ...

. He had two sisters, Hope Gimbel Solinger and Caral Gimbel Lebworth; and one brother, David Alva Gimbel. After serving in the United States Army occupation force in Japan in 1946–1947, he graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1951, earning degrees in both English and economics.Credo Reference Topic
"Peter Robin Gimbel"
/ref> He spent ten years as an investment banker but after the death of his twin brother at age 29, he left banking to pursue a career in exploration. He parachuted into the Peruvian Andes with G. Brooks Baekeland (grandson of

Leo Baekeland Leo Hendrik Baekeland ( , ; November 14, 1863 – February 23, 1944) was a Belgian chemist. Educated in Belgium and Germany, he spent most of his career in the United States. He is best known for the inventions of Velox photographic paper ...

, the inventor of Bakelite) and Peter Lake in search of the lost Inca city of Vilcabamba. He was the first to dive the wreck of ''

SS Andrea Doria SS ''Andrea Doria'' () was a luxury transatlantic ocean liner of the Italian Line (Società di navigazione Italia), put into service in 1953. She is widely known from the extensive media coverage of her sinking in 1956, which included the rema ...

'' and his photos of the ship were published in ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine in August 1956. He produced two documentaries about the ship ''The Mystery of the Andrea Doria'' and ''Andrea Doria: The Final Chapter''. He opened the safe of the Andrea Doria on live television in August 1984 at the New York Aquarium. Gimbel also directed and produced the 1971 film ''

Blue Water, White Death ''Blue Water, White Death'' is a 1971 American documentary film about sharks, which was directed by Peter Gimbel and James Lipscomb. It received favourable reviews and was described as a "well produced odyssey" and "exciting and often beautiful ...

'' which was the first cinematic filming of

great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...

, featuring Ron Taylor and Valerie Taylor,

Rodney Fox Rodney Winston Fox (born 9 November 1940) is an Australian film maker, conservationist, survivor of an attack by a great white shark, and one of the world's foremost authorities on that species. He was inducted into the International Scuba D ...

Stan Waterman Stanton Arthur Waterman (April 5, 1923 – August 10, 2023) was an American cinematographer and underwater film producer who was a five-time Emmy Award winner.

and Peter Lake. The shark's attack on Lake's cage at the end of the film inspired

Peter Benchley Peter Bradford Benchley (May 8, 1940 – February 11, 2006) was an American author. He is best known for his bestselling novel '' Jaws'' and co-wrote its movie adaptation with Carl Gottlieb. Several more of his works were also adapted for both ...

's book, ''Jaws''.

Personal life

Gimbel married three times. His first wife was socialite Mary Bailey with whom he had two children, Peter Bailey Gimbel and Leslie Gimbel Goldman (Bailey remarried to director

Sidney Lumet Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. Lumet started his career in theatre before moving to film, where he gained a reputation for making realistic and gritty New York City, New York dramas w ...

). His second wife was model Virginia Taylor. In 1978, he married actress

Elga Andersen Elga Andersen (née Helga Hymen or Hymmen) (2 February 1935 – 7 December 1994) was a German actress and singer. She starred in more than one dozen French films in the 1950s and 1960s and also debuted as a recording artist in the 1950s. She per ...

Death

Peter Gimbel succumbed to cancer on July 12, 1987, at the age of 60.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gimbel, Peter 1927 births 1987 deaths American people of German-Jewish descent American underwater divers Place of death missing American twins American underwater photographers Yale University alumni

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...