Not much is known about George Tinsley Clemens, ASC, and I don’t understand why. By any standard, he had a solid career, the majority of which was spent at Paramount. Born in Joplin, MO on July 26, 1902, he entered the film industry as an assistant cameraman in 1923 and was a frequent collaborator of Karl Struss, ASC. He later worked as an operator and in the mid-’30’s began shooting B-features before moving into television two decades later.
It was here that he proved his taste and versatility by photographing a number of pioneering episodics, among them Schlitz Playhouse (125 episodes), The Millionaire (36 episodes) and the ever-popular The Twilight Zone (117 episodes, one of which earned him a Primetime Emmy in 1961). I’ve always admired his work on that show and felt it was a big contributor to its success. Sharp and contrasty with tightly composed frames, the reruns I’ve caught on the streaming services are as powerful now as the day they first hit the airwaves.
Other scattered facts I’ve been able to glean about him:
Clemens claimed to be a distant relative of Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). If that was so, it was apparently through adoption by a dentist who was somehow related to the celebrated author. Twain had no direct relatives.
He became an ASC member in 1933.
His wife’s name was Mildred.
In addition to his Emmy win, he was nominated four times.
He died of a heart attack while vacationing on a cruise ship on October 29, 1992
Brush-with-greatness alert: Sometime during the early ’90’s I had the pleasure of being introduced to a retired television director by the name of Perry Lafferty. He recalled having many enjoyable experiences while working with Clemens on episodes of The Twilight Zone. What amused me most was the delight in his voice whenever he referred to him as ‘Georgie.’
Despite his being somewhat lost to history, the DuPont Corporation found Clemens worthy enough to tout their product in the ad below.
Thanks for this post and documenting some history on George T Clemens! I love George’s work on the Twilight Zone. I too noticed he was very prolific, having shot the majority of the series, and have always been curious about him. I just discovered your blog, and you gained a follower and fellow DP (though I am not nearly as accomplished as you). Cheers.
Thank you Geoff…welcome aboard!