He was born in 1890 in Pine Bluff, the grandson of an Arkansas Supreme Court justice. At the age of 12 he went to work cleaning a local movie theater and helping the one-armed projector operator by cranking the projector. While in high school he designed and built his first 35mm motion picture camera and filmed scenes around his hometown, showing them in the local theater before the main feature.
He moved to Chicago to begin his career as a cameraman. He would soon become known for his innovative film techniques and was an early visionary in developing the forerunner of what was to be known as newsreels. In the seat of an open cockpit of a bi-winged airplane, he would film scenes from the middle of a hurricane and major news events including the Chicago Stockyard Fire and President Woodrow Wilson's historical participation at the League of Nations.
He once was sued by baseball legend Babe Ruth for using a new slow-motion process to reveal the secrets of his famous home run swing. He held more than 200 patents in photography and invented the technique of synchronizing sound to motion pictures. He also created the A.C. Nielson Rating System.
Notable Arkansans is written by Steve Stephens and produced by Clyde Snider.
Who was this early innovator in the film industry from Pine Bluff?
Answer on Page 6E
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