American Cinematographer - May 2016 - 93

In Memoriam

Photo by Myles Aronowitz, courtesy of the ASC archives.

Don Thorin Sr., ASC, 1934-2016

Society member Donald E.
Thorin Sr. died on Feb. 9 at the age of
81.
Thorin was born on Oct. 12,
1934, in Omaha, Neb., where he
worked as a commercial artist before
moving to Los Angeles in 1957. In AC's
January '87 issue, he recalled that after
arriving on the West Coast, "it took me
about five minutes to figure out where I
was best suited in this business with an
art background - and that was
camera." He first found work in the
mailroom at 20th Century Fox but soon
moved into the camera department,
beginning as a loader before quickly
stepping up to 2nd AC on The Young
Lions, shot by Joe MacDonald, ASC.
Thorin steadily climbed the ranks
up to camera operator. In that role, he
worked with a number of nowlegendary ASC members, including
Jordan Cronenweth, on Gable and
Lombard and Cutter's Way; Haskell
Wexler, on Bound for Glory, Coming Home
and Second-Hand Hearts; Gordon Willis, on
Annie Hall and Comes a Horseman; and
Owen Roizman, on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band and The Black Marble.
He also operated on three features
shot by Donald M. Morgan, ASC: Sheila
Levine Is Dead and Living in New York, Let's
Do It Again and One on One. "Don was a
major influence in my early days of being a
director of photography," Morgan recalls.
"Sheila Levine was almost a film school for
me, to have someone with [Thorin's] experience. What Don taught me on that film was
continuity and style. We did everything on
dollies, but whenever I got a little behind, I'd
say, 'Grab the handheld!' And Don would
say, 'You don't want to do that. You've got
to keep the continuity going.'
"I was a little nervous about not
operating the camera myself, because I
thought people were looking at me just
standing there while he was doing the operating," Morgan continues with a laugh.
"But he just made me feel at ease, explain-

ing how they do it in the big time. Don was
a heck of a guy - a real, real help to me,
and a dear friend. I loved him."
Thorin earned his first feature-cinematography credit on director Michael
Mann's Thief, which he followed in short
order with director Taylor Hackford's An
Officer and a Gentleman and Against All
Odds. In AC's coverage of the latter film
(March '84), actor James Woods noted,
"When you're out there with the camera
rolling, the director and the other actors are
tuned into you of course, but it's kind of a
bummer if the cameraman is concerned
only with his light. Don's not like that - he's
a good audience. I'll ask him what he
thought of my performance because I trust
his judgment, and because I know that he's
interested in the overall storytelling."
On Jan. 6, 1986 - after Thorin had
also notched director-of-photography credits on such features as Purple Rain, Mischief
and Wildcats - the ASC welcomed the
cinematographer into the ranks of its active
members; he had been proposed for
www.theasc.com

membership by Morgan and fellow
Society members Frank Raymond and
Jack Cooperman. Thorin's credits
through the rest of the decade included
The Golden Child, The Couch Trip,
Midnight Run, Lock Up and Tango &
Cash.
He reteamed with his Midnight Run
director, Martin Brest, for 1992's Scent
of a Woman (AC Feb. '93). His additional credits in the '90s included Undercover Blues, Little Big League, Boys on
the Side, Ace Ventura: When Nature
Calls, The First Wives Club, Nothing to
Lose, Mickey Blue Eyes and Dudley DoRight. His final theatrical credits were on
Shaft (AC June '00) and Head of State.
He officially changed his ASC membership status to "retired" in 2012, by
which point he had settled in Arizona
after previously relocating to Idaho.
For AC's coverage of Shaft, Thorin
was asked to speak to his overall philosophy as a cinematographer, and his
answer echoes Morgan's assessment of his
contributions as a camera operator. "It's
important to maintain the same visual style
throughout the film, and a lot of movies
don't do that," Thorin said. "Isolated on its
own, [a] shot might look beautiful, but
whether it belongs in the film or not is
another question. The idea is to take an
audience through a film from beginning to
end and make them believe whatever story
you are telling, not to be sidetracked or
distracted from telling the story. I try to be
very careful about that."
Thorin is survived by his wife,
Dagmar, and sons Donald Jr. and Jeffrey.
- Jon D. Witmer
●

May 2016

http://www.theasc.com

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