Isidore Mankofsky, Cinematographer on ‘The Muppet Movie,’ Dies at 89
He also was the DP on 'Scream Blacula Scream,' 'Somewhere in Time,' 'Better Off Dead' and loads of telefilms.
He was not on the list.
Isidore “Izzy” Mankofsky, who shot The Muppet Movie, Somewhere in Time and dozens of telefilms including the Farrah Fawcett-starring The Burning Bed, died Thursday of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, the American Society of Cinematographers announced. He was 89.
He also was the DP on Richard Fleischer’s The Jazz Singer (1980) and two movies directed by Savage Steve Holland and starring John Cusack: Better Off Dead … (1985) and One Crazy Summer (1986).
A three-time Emmy nominee, Mankofsky got his start at Encyclopedia Britannica Films, then made his feature debut on the AIP sequel Scream Blacula Scream (1973), starring William Marshall.
In a 2009 interview, Mankofsky said in enjoyed working with Jim Henson and his crew on The Muppet Movie (1979), directed by James Frawley.
“First of all, no [actor] complained about the light in his eyes or how long he had to stand in — you just stuck them on a pole,” he said. “And the puppeteers were really nice guys. When I asked Henson to move Kermit to the right a little for a better frame, Henson [who operated and voiced the frog] wouldn’t answer — Kermit would.”
Mankofsky followed that with a romantic period drama, the Jeannot Szwarc-directed Somewhere in Time (1980), starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. “No matter how you lit her, she looked gorgeous,” he said of Seymour. “The light just wrapped around her. Of all the actresses I’ve photographed, she was the easiest.”
For many years, he attended an annual convention held at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan, where Somewhere in Time was shot. “Being there and having so many people tell me they’re glad I’m there makes me feel good,” he said. “It’s a very friendly atmosphere. And it’s good to have your ego built up sometimes!”
A son of immigrants from Ukraine, Mankofsky was born in New York City on Sept. 22, 1931. In the U.S. Air Force, he photographed athletic teams for the base magazine, learning how to shoot, process film and print pictures. “You could say that was the beginning of my career in the magical world of motion pictures,” he said.
After jobs at a TV station in Reno, Nevada and at Stewart Warner Electronics in Chicago, he joined Encyclopedia Britannica Films and shot 161 half-hour educational films in Florida.
“Each film was an opportunity to do something that I added to my book of knowledge,” he said. “Because each film presented its own problems, the cinematographer was, among a lot of other things, a problem solver.”
In 1975, Mankofsky began work at Universal Television, and he would go on to shoot such series as Columbo, Magnum, P.I. and The Wonderful World of Disney; miniseries like 1976’s Captains and Kings, 1987’s Billionaire Boys Club and 1991’s Love, Lies and Murder; and more than four dozen telefilms, including 1981’s Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, 1984’s The Burning Bed and 1988’s Fatal Judgment and A Very Brady Christmas.
He also worked on George Lucas’ Ewoks: The Battle for Endor in 1985 and reunited with the Muppets in 1991 for the theme park attraction MuppetVision 3-D.
Mankofsky received the ASC’s Presidents Award in 2009 for his leadership and service to the organization.
Survivors include his wife, Christine, whom he married in 1972.
Cinematographer
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2021
Too Loud a Solitude (2007)
Too Loud a Solitude
6.2
Cinematographer
2007
Divorce: The Musical (2001)
Divorce: The Musical
5.5
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2001
4 Faces (2001)
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6.2
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Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Candace Cameron Bure in She Cried No
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The Heidi Chronicles (1995)
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Cinematographer
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director of photography
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Cinematographer
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Cinematographer
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The Gift of Love (1994)
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Cinematographer
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director of photography
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Cinematographer
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Cinematographer
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Cinematographer
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Cinematographer
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Cinematographer
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TV Movie
Cinematographer
1992
Love, Lies and Murder (1991)
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TV Mini Series
Cinematographer
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2 episodes
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TV Movie
Cinematographer
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Cinematographer
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TV Movie
Cinematographer
1989
The Magical World of Disney (1954)
The Magical World of Disney
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TV Series
director of photography
1986–1989
8 episodes
Fair Game
TV Movie
Cinematographer
1989
Parent Trap III (1989)
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TV Movie
Cinematographer
1989
Skin Deep (1989)
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6.1
Cinematographer
1989
A Very Brady Christmas (1988)
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TV Movie
Cinematographer
1988
Fatal Judgement (1988)
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6.4
TV Movie
Cinematographer
1988
Blood Money (1988)
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4.9
TV Movie
Cinematographer
1988
Billionaire Boys Club (1987)
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TV Mini Series
director of photography
1987
2 episodes
James Brolin in Deep Dark Secrets (1987)
Deep Dark Secrets
5.3
TV Movie
director of photography
1987
Nutcracker: Money, Madness & Murder (1987)
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TV Mini Series
Cinematographer
1987
3 episodes
Denzel Washington in The George McKenna Story (1986)
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6.0
TV Movie
director of photography
1986
John Cusack, Demi Moore, Grenville Cuyler, Joel Murray, Tom
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director of photography
1986
Say Yes (1986)
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director of photography
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director of photography
1986
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TV Movie
Cinematographer
1986
Peter Coyote, Taliesin Jaffe, and Lindsay Wagner in Child's
Cry (1986)
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Cinematographer
1986
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3.8
Cinematographer (uncredited)
1985
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5.4
TV Movie
Cinematographer
1985
Courteney Cox, Kevin Peter Hall, Dean Paul Martin, and Mark
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7.3
TV Series
director of photography
1985
1 episode
John Cusack, Curtis Armstrong, Kim Darby, Diane Franklin,
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Cinematographer
1985
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TV Movie
Cinematographer
1984
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director of photography
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director of photography
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Cinematographer
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Cinematographer
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TV Movie
Cinematographer
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6.3
TV Movie
Cinematographer
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Cinematographer
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5.3
TV Movie
Cinematographer
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TV Movie
Cinematographer
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5.5
TV Movie
director of photography
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TV Movie
Cinematographer
1982
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5.5
TV Movie
Cinematographer
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6.4
TV Movie
director of photography
1982
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5.2
TV Movie
Cinematographer
1982
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5.6
TV Movie
Cinematographer
1982
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7.5
TV Series
director of photography
1981–1982
3 episodes
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5.3
TV Series
Cinematographer
1981
1 episode
Jaclyn Smith in Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (1981)
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6.0
TV Movie
Cinematographer
1981
Golden Gate (1981)
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5.8
TV Movie
Cinematographer
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5.6
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Cinematographer
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5.5
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director of photography
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5.9
director of photography
1980
Somewhere in Time (1980)
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director of photography
1980
Escape (1980)
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7.3
TV Movie
director of photography
1980
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(1979)
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5.7
TV Movie
Cinematographer
1979
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TV Movie
Cinematographer
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7.6
director of photography
1979
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5.6
TV Series
director of photography
1979
1 episode
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TV Series
director of photography
1978
1 episode
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8.3
TV Series
director of photography
1978
2 episodes
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TV Mini Series
Cinematographer
1977
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7.9
TV Mini Series
Cinematographer (parts 1 and 3)
1977
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TV Series
director of photography
1977
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Henry Fonda, Patty Duke, Charles Durning, Richard Jordan,
Vic Morrow, and Barbara Parkins in Captains and the Kings (1976)
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7.9
TV Mini Series
director of photography
1976
6 episodes
Sissy Spacek in Carrie (1976)
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7.4
Cinematographer (uncredited)
1976
Doctors' Hospital (1975)
Doctors' Hospital
6.8
TV Series
director of photography
1975–1976
10 episodes
The Long Christmas Dinner
Short
Cinematographer
1975
Britt Ekland in The Ultimate Thrill (1974)
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5.9
director of photography (as Isadore Mankovsky)
1974
Peter Brocco, Frances Fuller, William Hansen, Ruth McDevitt,
Paula Trueman, and Ian Wolfe in Homebodies (1974)
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6.5
director of photography
1974
The Second Coming of Suzanne (1974)
The Second Coming of Suzanne
4.7
Cinematographer
1974
The Newspaper Story
Short
Cinematographer
1973
Fellow Citizen, A. Lincoln
TV Movie
Cinematographer (photographer)
1973
Scream Blacula Scream (1973)
Scream Blacula Scream
5.6
director of photography
1973
Trick Baby (1972)
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6.7
director of photography
1972
Wayang Kulit: The Shadow Puppet Theater of Java
Short
Cinematographer
1972
The Cell: Part One
Short
Cinematographer
1971
Werewolves on Wheels (1971)
Werewolves on Wheels
4.3
director of photography
1971
Joseph Kaufmann in Jud (1971)
Jud
6.1
Cinematographer
1971
Muhammad Ali in a.k.a. Cassius Clay (1970)
a.k.a. Cassius Clay
6.7
Cinematographer (as Izzy Mankovsky)
1970
The Lady, or the Tiger?
8.2
Short
Cinematographer
1969
My Old Man
Short
Cinematographer (photography)
1969
The Lottery (1969)
The Lottery
7.1
Short
Cinematographer
1969
Bartleby (1969)
Bartleby
6.9
Short
Cinematographer
1969
The Secret Sharer
8.3
Cinematographer
1967
Camera and Electrical Department
The Arrival (1996)
The Arrival
6.2
director of photography: second unit
1996
Trenchcoat (1983)
Trenchcoat
5.2
director of photography: second unit
1983
Kay Lenz and Stephen McHattie in Moving Violation (1976)
Moving Violation
5.4
additional photographer
1976
The Inventing of America
TV Special
film cameraman
1975
Chuck Connors and Aron Kincaid in The Proud and Damned
(1972)
The Proud and Damned
4.5
additional photographer (as Isadore Mankowsky)
1972
Future Shock (1972)
Future Shock
5.9
Short
photography: second unit
1972
Actor
John Heard, Christina Moore, and Brian Smolensky in
Searching for Fortune (2017)
Searching for Fortune
7.6
Denver Bar Fly
2017
John Cusack, Demi Moore, Grenville Cuyler, Joel Murray, Tom
Villard, and Linda Warren in One Crazy Summer (1986)
One Crazy Summer
6.4
Cameraman
1986
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