Thomas Del Ruth, ASC, was honored and celebrated at the Tower Theatre, Bend, last week, for his outstanding cinematography and contribution to “Stand By Me”, and was presented with a plaque by Tim Williams, Executive Director of Oregon Film. “Stand By Me” was based on a novella by Stephen King (“The Body”), and written by Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans, and directed by Rob Reiner. The film shot in Brownsville, and this summer celebrated its 30th anniversary. Today, the movie is still regarded as a classic coming of age drama, and thanks to Del Ruth, illuminates Brownsville and Oregon as a stunning backdrop to the characters’ adventures.
Del Ruth started his career as a commercial actor, as well as serving in the US Army as a paratrooper, before enrolling at USC cinema school. He then got his start with 20th Century Fox and the then head-of-camera department, Saul Halprin, and never looked back with more than 70 film and TV credits to his name, including, “The West Wing”, “The Breakfast Club”, “Running Man”. Del Ruth has more than a dozen nominations for his work as a DP, and has won 2 Emmy’s, 4 ASC awards over the years.