Joseph M. Wilcots, a pioneering African American cinematographer whose credits include the groundbreaking 1970s miniseries Roots and Roots: The Next Generation, died December 30, 2009, at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, California. He was 70, and had been battling complications of a stroke.
According to news reports, Wilcots died December 30, 2009, at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster of complications from a stroke he suffered in 2008.
Wilcots was born February 1, 1939, in Des Moines, Iowa.
After a four years of service in the Navy, during which he worked as a photographer, he worked four-and-a-half years at Westheimer Co., a Hollywood optical house for which he was involved in providing visual effects for commercials and television series such as Star Trek.
In 1967, Wilcots became the first African American to join the International Cinematographers Guild. He worked on camera crews for TV series such as The F.B.I. and Mission: Impossible and on films such as The Learning Tree, The Last Picture Show, The Cowboys and Lady Sings the Blues.
His greatest recognition as a director of photography came for his work on Roots, the landmark 1977 miniseries based on Alex Haley’s bestselling book about his ancestors, beginning with an African native, Kunta Kinte, who was brought to America as a slave in 17th century Virginia.
Wilcots garnered a Primetime Emmy nomination for outstanding cinematography in entertainment programming for a series for Part Seven of Roots. He also earned him a local Emmy nomination for his work on Roots.
One of the greatest challenges of a production like Roots — and one of Wilcots’ most admired talents — was lighting scenes for different skin colors and tones.
For Wilcots, it was important to convey the grittiness of the atmosphere in which the story unfolded.
In his 2007 interview with the Television Academy Foundation’s Archive of American Television, he said, “I wanted to make the audience smell the dirt and to create such an atmosphere that the dirt was the second part of the picture. And I was able to accomplish that by whenever I had the opportunity I would either start on the dirt or shoot something of dirt around and so there was like a hidden meaning, and it was the dirt and the earth.”
His other cinematographer credits included Bill Cosby: Himself, Where the Red Fern Grows: Part 2 and the TV series Matlock, Palmerstown, U.S.A. and Brewster Place.
He also worked as a cinematographer, photographer, producer, director and editor on Michael Jackson’s music videos, tours and other projects.
Wilcots is survived by his wife, a son, a daughter, three sisters and two brothers.
Joseph Wilcots had the distinction of being interviewed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation’s Archive of American Television on December 5, 2007. During the interview with Archive manager Gary Rutkowski, which took place in Los Angeles, Wilcots discussed his career for more than three hours.
He spoke about his early interest in photography as a teenager and his filmmaking experiences while serving in the U.S. Navy. He then described his work, following the service, at the Westheimer Optical House, in particular the creative work being done for the special effects on the original Star Trek series.
He related how he became the first African-American member of the camera operators union and identified the slow shift in adding other African-American members into the union over the years. He talked about his work in independent filmmaking and reminisced about some of the people he worked with including director Gordon Parks and cinematographer Robert Surtees.
He spoke in great detail about the two projects for which he is most associated, the miniseries: Roots and Roots: The Next Generations, in which he served as director of photography. He talked about his approach to the Roots shows, meeting and working with Alex Haley, and working with actor Marlon Brando (Wilcots commented that he took 200 pounds off of Brando by using a fireplace as the key light).
In addition, he noted the impact of Roots and what working on the miniseries meant to him. He acknowledged his work on the Alex Haley/Norman Lear series Palmerstown U.S.A. Lastly, he gave his impressions of three individuals for whom he worked for extensively: actor-director Georg Stanford Brown, Bill Cosby, and Michael Jackson.
The entire interview is available online here