Adam Greenberg, the Oscar-nominated cinematographer known for his work on The Terminator and many other films, has died. He was 88.
Fellow cinematographer Avraham Karpick, who worked for Greenberg on the 1984 J. Lee Thompson film The Ambassador, was one of several industry peers to mourn the director of photography’s death, announcing that he died on Thursday.
“Adam did not speak to impress — he spoke to connect. He did not lead by direction — he led by example. He never commanded — he swam beside us, anchored in clarity, wisdom, and calm,” he wrote on Facebook. “Free of ego, far from vanity, he stayed above noise, gossip, and distraction.
“Now we are left with echoes — of his words, his spirit, his way. Because whales never truly vanish. They become part of something deeper,” added Karpick.
Assistant director Eddie Ziv and camera operator Mosh Levin also paid their condolences to Greenberg on social media.
Born April 11, 1937 in Kraków, Poland, Greenberg was raised in Tel Aviv, where he began working as a film lab technician and documentary cameraman in the 1950s and 60s.
Greenberg’s first job as DP was on the 1966 Israeli movie musical The Flying Matchmaker, before going on to film Hasamba (1971), I Love You Rosa (1972), My Michael (1974) and Lemon Popsicle (1978).
After breaking into the American film industry, he joined director James Cameron as cinematographer on The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), earning an Oscar nomination for the latter. Greenberg also worked on such films as Once Bitten (1985), La Bamba (1987), Three Men and a Baby (1987), Turner & Hooch (1989), Ghost (1990), Sister Act (1992), Rush Hour (1998), Inspector Gadget (1999) and Snakes on a Plane (2006).
In 2013, Greenberg returned to Israel to make the documentary Footsteps in Jerusalem, an homage to David Perlov’s In Jerusalem (1963), which was his first camera credit.
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