Joseph T. Rucker (January 1, 1887 – October 21, 1957) was an American cinematographer who won the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

along with Willard Van der Veer at the 3rd Academy Awards in 1930 for Best Cinematography for the film ''

With Byrd at the South Pole ''With Byrd at the South Pole'' (1930) is a documentary film about Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd and his 1st quest to the South Pole beginning at the Little America-Exploration Base. The film's soundtrack consists mostly of music and sound effec ...

''. He and Van der Veer won their Oscars for camera work for

Admiral Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

's 1928 and 1930 expeditions to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. In the latter expedition, he and Van der Veer brought back over 160,000 feet of raw footage. He spent 40 years of his life as a news cameraman at

Paramount News Paramount News is the name on the newsreels produced by Paramount Pictures from 1927 to 1957. History The Paramount newsreel operation began in 1927 with Emanuel Cohen as an editor. It typically distributed two issues per week to theaters across ...

and at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. In addition to the Byrd expeditions, he is remembered for filming the 1914 opening of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

, the aftermath of the

1923 Tokyo earthquake Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, the 1927

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

, and WWII's Pacific conflict from the

USS Enterprise (CV-6) USS ''Enterprise'' (CV-6) was a carrier built for the United States Navy during the 1930s. She was the seventh U.S. Navy vessel of that name. Colloquially called "The Big E", she was the sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. Launc ...

.https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0748530/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm The Rucker Spur in

was named after him by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names.

Selected filmography

'' (1930)

References

External links

* * 1887 births 1957 deaths Best Cinematographer Academy Award winners American cinematographers Artists from Atlanta {{US-cinematographer-stub