Richard M. Rawlings obit

Richard M. Rawlings Dies: ‘Charlie’s Angels’ & ‘Desperate Housewives’ Cinematographer With Four Emmy Noms Was 82

 He was not on the list.

Richard M. Rawlings Jr, a second-generation cinematographer with four career Emmy noms whose credits range from the original Charlie’s Angels to L.A. Law, Gilmore Girls and Desperate Housewives, has died. He was 82.

The American Society of Cinematographers confirmed the news but did not provide details about cause, place or date of death.

During his 30-year lensing career, Rawlings Jr won an ASC Award in 1988 for the CBS Western series Paradise, for which he also scored an Emmy nomination. His three other Emmy noms came for ABC’s Ohara in 1988, NBC’s Reasonable Doubts in 1993 and the CBS telepic Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story in 1995. He also was honored with the ASC’s Television Career Achievement Award in 2014.

Born on Oct. 9, 1943, in Los Angeles, Rawlings Jr was the son of Richard L. Rawlings, who also had a long career as a TV cinematographer including multiple seasons of Dynasty and Gilligan’s Island. The younger Rawlings got his showbiz start as a messenger at Warner Bros for three years before getting into camera work. He later assisted his father on shows including Gilligan’s Island.

The elder Rawlings was working on the classic 1970s crime drama Charlie’s Angels when its executive producer Aaron Spelling reassigned him to work on his then-new primetime soap Dynasty. That became the younger Rawlings’ big break, as he took the cinematography reins halfway through the third season of Charlie’s Angels in 1978 — hot off being a Top 5 series in all of primetime. He would stay in that role until the show wrapped in 1981.

From there, Rawlings Jr would work on dozens of primetime TV series the 1982-85, including ABC action show Matt Houston, ABC’s Stingray, NBC’s Marlee Matlin-led legal drama Reasonable Doubts and NBC’s Emmy-winning L.A. Law. He went on to lens such 2000s hits as Boston Public, Gilmore Girls and Desperate Housewives. Rawlings Jr also worked on a handful of TV movies, and his final credit was a 2008 episode of Boston Public.

Rawlings Jr talked about his craft in a 1995 interview with ASC’s magazine American Cinematographer. “I’ll walk onto a set that I’ve never seen before, and my original ideas change about where the lights will go and about the feeling of the scene,” he said. “Then, when I listen to the actors say the words, my ideas may change again. I always wait until the moment and then make my choices. I’m also not a technical person [in terms of] using formula to determine lighting; I don’t know how to do that. Outside, I guess the exposure and then use a meter; inside, I know exactly how much light there is because I shoot by eye. I know what 20 foot candles looks like.”

Information on survivors was incomplete.

 

Cinematographer

Candice Bergen, William Shatner, and James Spader in Boston Legal (2004)

Boston Legal

8.5

TV Series

director of photography (as Richard Rawlings)

2008

1 episode

 

Desperate Housewives (2004)

Desperate Housewives

7.7

TV Series

director of photography (as Richard Rawlings)

2005–2007

22 episodes

 

Desperate Housewives Special: The Juiciest Bites

7.1

TV Movie

Cinematographer

2007

 

Desperate Housewives Special: All the Juicy Details

6.9

TV Special

Cinematographer

2006

 

Halley's Comet (2005)

Halley's Comet

5.8

TV Movie

Cinematographer

2005

 

Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham in Gilmore Girls (2000)

Gilmore Girls

8.2

TV Series

director of photography (as Richard Rawlings)

2004–2005

8 episodes

 

Michael Rapaport, Jeri Ryan, and Chi McBride in Boston Public (2000)

Boston Public

7.3

TV Series

director of photography (as Richard Rawlings Jr.)

2000–2004

25 episodes

 

Treat Williams in The Substitute: Failure Is Not an Option (2001)

The Substitute: Failure Is Not an Option

4.7

Video

Cinematographer (as Richard Rawlings)

2001

 

Erin Chambers, Ty Hodges, and Jake Sakson in Don't Look Under the Bed (1999)

Don't Look Under the Bed

6.6

TV Movie

director of photography (as Richard M. Rawlings)

1999

 

Seven Days (1998)

Seven Days

7.2

TV Series

director of photography (as Richard Rawlings)

1998

2 episodes

 

Dennis Rodman, Tim Abell, Melinda Clarke, David Eigenberg, and Brad Johnson in Soldier of Fortune, Inc. (1997)

Soldier of Fortune, Inc.

6.8

TV Series

director of photography

1997–1998

9 episodes

 

Melinda Clarke and Brad Johnson in Soldier of Fortune (1997)

Soldier of Fortune

6.5

TV Movie

Cinematographer

1997

 

Lauren Holly, Hector Elizondo, Carla Gugino, Mark Harmon, Barbara Hershey, Mandy Patinkin, Adam Arkin, and Rocky Carroll in Chicago Hope (1994)

Chicago Hope

6.9

TV Series

director of photography (as Richard Rawlings Jr.)

1997

1 episode

 

Mark Harmon in Charlie Grace (1995)

Charlie Grace

7.7

TV Series

director of photography

1995–1996

8 episodes

 

Michele Lee and Kenny Rogers in Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story (1995)

Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story

6.6

TV Movie

Cinematographer (as Richard Rawlings)

1995

 

Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993)

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

6.7

TV Series

director of photography

1994–1995

2 episodes

 

Sherilyn Fenn and Jamey Sheridan in Spring Awakening (1994)

Spring Awakening

6.6

TV Movie

Cinematographer

1994

 

L.A. Law (1986)

L.A. Law

7.1

TV Series

director of photography (as Richard Rawlings Jr.)

1993–1994

22 episodes

 

Vanessa Angel, John Asher, and Michael Manasseri in Weird Science (1994)

Weird Science

6.8

TV Series

Cinematographer

1994–1998

 

Mark Harmon and Marlee Matlin in Reasonable Doubts (1991)

Reasonable Doubts

7.4

TV Series

director of photography

1991–1993

34 episodes

 

When No One Would Listen (1992)

When No One Would Listen

6.5

TV Movie

Cinematographer

1992

 

Casey's Gift: For Love of a Child (1990)

Casey's Gift: For Love of a Child

6.7

TV Movie

Cinematographer (as Richard Rawlings Jr.)

1990

 

Eve Plumb, Susan Olsen, Ann B. Davis, Leah Ayres, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, and Barry Williams in The Bradys (1990)

The Bradys

5.4

TV Series

Cinematographer (as Richard Rawlings)

1990

1 episode

 

Lee Horsley in Paradise (1988)

Paradise

8.0

TV Series

director of photographyCinematographer

1988–1990

7 episodes

 

Catherine Keener, Pat Morita, Kevin Conroy, Jack Wallace, and Richard Yniguez in Ohara (1987)

Ohara

6.9

TV Series

Cinematographer

1987–1988

29 episodes

 

Nick Mancuso in Stingray (1986)

Stingray

7.4

TV Series

director of photography (as Richard M. Rawlings)

1986–1987

15 episodes

 

The Greatest American Hero (1981)

The Greatest American Hero

7.3

TV Series

director of photography (as Richard M. Rawlings)

1986

1 episode

 

Jay Acovone, John Matuszak, and Jack Scalia in Hollywood Beat (1985)

Hollywood Beat

7.1

TV Series

director of photographyCinematographer (as Dick Rawlings Jr.)

1985

4 episodes

 

Dean Butler and Caryn Richman in Gidget's Summer Reunion (1985)

Gidget's Summer Reunion

6.0

TV Movie

Cinematographer

1985

 

Lee Horsley in Matt Houston (1982)

Matt Houston

6.5

TV Series

Cinematographerdirector of photography

1982–1985

64 episodes

 

Finder of Lost Loves (1984)

Finder of Lost Loves

6.7

TV Series

director of photography (as Dick Rawlings Jr.)

1984

1 episode

 

Square Pegs (1982)

Square Pegs

7.4

TV Series

director of photography (as Dick Rawlings)

1982–1983

3 episodes

 

Dorian Harewood, Michael Goodwin, Trisha Noble, Richard Romanus, and Robert Stack in Strike Force (1981)

Strike Force

6.9

TV Series

Cinematographerdirector of photography (as Dick Rawlings Jr., as Dick Rawlings Jr.)

1981–1982

12 episodes

 

T.J. Hooker (1982)

T.J. Hooker

6.1

TV Series

director of photography (as Richard Rawlings Jr.)

1982

1 episode

 

Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith in Charlie's Angels (1976)

Charlie's Angels

6.6

TV Series

director of photography

1978–1981

52 episodes

 

Camera and Electrical Department

Bill Cobbs, Missy Crider, Gabriel Macht, and Julianne Nicholson in The Others (2000)

The Others

7.7

TV Series

director of photography: second unit

2000

10 episodes

 

Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith in Charlie's Angels (1976)

Charlie's Angels

6.6

TV Series

director of photography: second unit (as Dick Rawlings Jr.)

1979

1 episode

 

Movie Movie (1978)

Movie Movie

6.4

camera operator (as Richard M. Rawlings)

1978

 

Eight Is Enough (1977)

Eight Is Enough

6.6

TV Series

camera operator

1977–1978

15 episodes

 

The Courage and the Passion (1978)

The Courage and the Passion

6.4

TV Movie

camera operator

1978

 

Richard Thomas, Will Geer, Judy Norton, Ellen Corby, Kami Cotler, David W. Harper, Michael Learned, Mary Beth McDonough, Eric Scott, Ralph Waite, and Jon Walmsley in The Waltons (1972)

The Waltons

7.6

TV Series

camera operator (as Dick Rawlings Jr.)

1976–1977

10 episodes

 

Smash-Up on Interstate 5 (1976)

Smash-Up on Interstate 5

6.0

TV Movie

camera operator (as Dick Rawlings Jr.)

1976

 

George Kennedy in The Blue Knight (1975)

The Blue Knight

6.9

TV Series

camera operator

1975–1976

14 episodes

 

Alex Rocco in Three for the Road (1975)

Three for the Road

7.4

TV Series

camera operator

1975

12 episodes

 

Returning Home (1975)

Returning Home

6.6

TV Movie

camera operator

1975

 

Jim Backus, Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, Natalie Schafer, and Dawn Wells in Gilligan's Island (1964)

Gilligan's Island

7.4

TV Series

assistant camera

1964–1992

 

Director

Mark Harmon and Marlee Matlin in Reasonable Doubts (1991)

Reasonable Doubts

7.4

TV Series

Director

1992

2 episodes

 

Lee Horsley in Paradise (1988)

Paradise

8.0

TV Series

Director

1991

1 episode