Kenneth D. Peach, Sr. (March 6, 1903 – February 27, 1988) was an American

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

Biography

Kenneth D. Peach Sr. was born in

El Reno El Reno is a city in and county seat of Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 16,989, marking a change of 1.55% from 16,729, recorded in the 2010 census. The city was begun shortly after the 18 ...

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

(in what is now

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

). Peach entered the film industry in 1923 and became a director of photography in 1926. He worked with composite processes, miniatures, montages and matte shots for

Tiffany Pictures Tiffany Pictures, which also became Tiffany-Stahl Productions for a time, was a Hollywood motion picture studio in operation from 1921 until 1932. It is considered a Poverty Row studio, whose films had lower budgets, lesser-known stars, and overal ...

for two years, then joined Fred Jackman's technical effects department at Warner Bros.- First National for three years. In 1931 he joined

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

' special effects department. In 1933 he began a long association with producer Hal Roach of

Hal Roach Studios Hal Roach Studios was an American motion picture and television production studio. Known as ''The Laugh Factory to the World'', it was founded by producer Hal Roach and business partners Dan Linthicum and I.H. Nance as the Rolin Film Company on Ju ...

, where he shot several

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...

films ('' Dirty Work'', ''

Sons of the Desert A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

''). In his later career, he worked in both film and television, in TV series such as ''

Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a full-length novel called ''Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with another fic ...

'' (73 episodes, 1958–1960), '' The Outer Limits'' (25 episodes, 1964–1965), ''

H.R. Pufnstuf ''H.R. Pufnstuf'' is a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-sized-puppet program (not including their previous work with the Hanna-Barbera program ''The Ba ...

'' (17 episodes, 1969–1970), ''

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

'' (59 episodes, 1980–1983), before retiring in 1984. He was married to actress

Pauline Curley Pauline Curley (December 19, 1903 – December 11, 2000) was a vaudeville and silent film actress from Holyoke, Massachusetts. Her film career spanned much of the silent era, from 1915 to 1928. Early years Pauline Curley was born in Holyoke, M ...

from 1922 until his death. They had two sons, cinematographer Kenneth Peach, Jr., and Martin Peach, who worked as a

key grip In North American filmmaking a key grip is a senior role for an experienced professional on every set. Their responsibilities are extensive and range from supervising grip crews, assessing what equipment is necessary for each shooting location ...

on the Disney television series, ''

Wizards of Waverly Place ''Wizards of Waverly Place'' is an American fantasy teen sitcom created by Todd J. Greenwald that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between October 2007 and January 2012. The series centers on Alex Russo (Selena Gomez), a teenage wiza ...

'' and a daughter Pauline A. Reynolds. Peach died on February 27, 1988, eight days before his 85th birthday. He and wife Pauline (who died December 16, 2000) are buried together in the Lincoln Terrace section of Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peach, Kenneth D. 1903 births 1988 deaths People from El Reno, Oklahoma American cinematographers Hal Roach Studios filmmakers Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Film producers from Oklahoma