Television lighting design pioneer Bill Klages passed away on Sunday, July 7. He won seven Primetime Emmy Awards and was nominated for thirteen more in the category. In 2012, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
As lighting designer Lee Rose notes: "Bill was truly a pioneer of television lighting.
He began with NBC in 1948 as a video maintenance engineer on such series as Your Show of Shows and The Kate Smith Hour. He was then promoted to video engineer, working on Your Hit Parade. His career was interrupted by a summons for a two-year stint in the U.S. Navy, after which he returned to NBC.
Klages worked on many television specials as lighting director, including Merman on Broadway (Ethel Merman), Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, and Sills and Burnett at The Met (Beverly Sills and Carol Burnett), in addition to specials he did featuring Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand, Dorothy Hamill, and Olivia Newton-John.
He was instrumental in the forming of the west coast office of Imero Fiorentino & Associates. They later split with "Immie" and Bill formed The Klages Group. He sold the company to the other partners in the mid-1990's. He continued to work on various projects under the banner of The New Klages Group.
The light of the Universe is a little dimmer today. Of course Bill would have focused it first. Very grateful to have known him and to have shared some of his time and wisdom over the decades."
Lee Rose also recalls: "In thinking about Bill today I remembered I went to see him speak at an LDI show years ago. I think it was called "Bill Klages on Bill Klages". All the other panels at the LDI show had ballroom lighting but Bill borrowed some gear from the ARRI booth and lit himself. At the question and answer portion someone asked Bill about lighting for film opposed to lighting for television. Bill responded, something to the effect of "I don't really have much experience with film but you could ask Lee Rose out there as he does." I don't think I was ever as proud of anything in my career as having Bill Klages suggest that I knew something worthwhile."