Nick McLean, Sr., Behind the Camera: The Life and Works of a Hollywood Cinematographer

Nick McLean was one of the most acclaimed camera operators in American cinema of the 1970s, during which time he shot many classics of the New Hollywood movement including McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Heaven Can Wait, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Deer Hunter, Marathon Man, and Being There. As a cinematographer throughout the 1980s, McLean would film blockbusters such as Cannonball Run II, City Heat, The Goonies, and Short Circuit before being lured into television to photograph some of the biggest shows in town, including Evening Shade, Cybill, and the pop culture phenomenon Friends, for which he was thrice Emmy-nominated.

Wayne Byrne is a librarian, film historian and music critic. He lives in Ireland. Nick McLean is an Emmy Award-nominated cinematographer and former camera operator whose credits include Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Deer Hunter, Sharky’s Machine, The Goonies, Short Circuit, Cybill, and Friends. He lives in Malibu, California.