Celebrity Biographies
John hour
He regularly collaborated with director Joe Dante on titles like “Gremlins.” Cinematographer John Hora died at the age of 80 on February 9, 2021, from heart failure, according to the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). “He has not only been one of the most talented cinematographers to have worked with me, but also a unique and eccentric character who knew more about lenses than I know about my own life. An irreparable loss,” says Dante. .
Born in Pasadena on February 16, 1940, John Charles Hora—his full name—was the son of an amateur photographer who attended the city’s Art Center School of Design. “I grew up in a house of cameras, film, darkrooms, inkjets, old glass plates, photography books and magazines, and a lot of music, too,” he explained in a 2007 interview.
After graduating from film school at the University of Southern California (USC), where he roomed with future Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz , John Hora worked for the commercial production company John Urie and Associates on projects like the documentary martial arts show New Gladiators (1973), financed by Elvis Presley . He made his film debut with Maurie , a drama set in the world of basketball.
He first collaborated with Joe Dante on 1981’s Howls . John Hora reteamed with the filmmaker on “It’s a Good Life,” his story for Reality Edge , followed by Gremlins , Scouts , Thou Shalt Not Kill… The Neighbor , Gremlins 2: The Next Generation and Matinee . Also in the pilot episode of the 1991 series Eerie, Indiana . “We always have a very interesting and quite comfortable relationship,” he declared. “Maybe because Joe has a sarcastic sense of humor and I have what’s been described as an overdeveloped sense of irony.
The director asked him to do a cameo in his movies. He appeared as scientist Ozzie Wexler in The Wonder Chip , and as a grumpy customer in Burying the Ex .
John Hora ‘s resume also includes titles like Honey, I’ve blown up the kid and a snippet from Moonwalker (1988), starring Michael Jackson . He turned down the offer to take care of Terminator , he once explained. In addition, he served as a professor at the Los Angeles Film School, served for many years on the ASC board of directors, and friends of his point out that he was a great collector of records and rare classic cars (he owned a 1963 Studebaker Avanti ).
He is survived by his brother Steve, his niece Erika, his nephew Greg and his ex-wife Mary.