Stan Waterman

{{Short description|American cinematographer and underwater film producer (1923–2023)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Stan Waterman

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Stanton Arthur Waterman

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|04|05}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|08|10|1923|04|05}}

| death_place =

| occupation = Cinematographer
Film producer

| notable_works = Blue Water, White Death

}}

Stanton Arthur Waterman (April 5, 1923 – August 10, 2023) was an American cinematographer and underwater film producer who was a five-time Emmy Award winner.[http://www.splashvision.com/Video/12476_Stan-Waterman-Toward-the-Edge-of-Extinction.html Stan Waterman: Toward the Edge of Extinction ( ocean sharks ) video clip] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409150857/http://www.splashvision.com/Video/12476_Stan-Waterman-Toward-the-Edge-of-Extinction.html |date=2008-04-09 }}

Life and career

After returning home from service in the US Navy{{cite web|title=Shark Savers : Stan Waterman|url=http://www.sharksavers.org/!trash/leadership/board-of-directors/stan-waterman/|website=sharksavers.org|access-date=November 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211203008/http://www.sharksavers.org/!trash/leadership/board-of-directors/stan-waterman/|archive-date=February 11, 2018|language=en}} during World War II, he became the first resident of Maine to purchase an aqualung, designed by Jacques Cousteau.{{Cite web|url=https://www.caymancompass.com/2013/04/19/stan-waterman-hangs-up-his-fins-at-90/|title=Stan Waterman hangs up his fins at 90 {{!}} Cayman Compass|last=Were|first=Natasha|website=caymancompass.com|date=April 19, 2013 |language=en-US|access-date=2017-12-05}}

Waterman graduated from Dartmouth College, where he studied with Robert Frost, in 1946 with a degree in English.{{cn|date=November 2023}} He began his SCUBA diving career in the Bahamas where he owned and operated a diving charter business from 1954 until 1958. His big break came in 1965 when he filmed a year-long family trip to Tahiti. National Geographic purchased the rights to the work and showed it on television. He was a producer and photographer on the 1971 film Blue Water, White Death which was the first cinematic filming of the great white shark.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

Waterman was the subject of a Discovery Channel biographical special titled The Man Who Loves Sharks.[http://www.beneaththesea.org/attendinfo/headliners.html Stan Waterman at Beneath The Sea 2002] Working with his son, he won the first father and son Emmy for the National Geographic Explorer production Dancing With Stingrays. His television credits include The American Sportsman (1965), The Bermuda Depths (1978), and The Explorers (1973) and film credits include The Deep (1977) and Jaws of Death (1977).[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0914013/ Stan Waterman profile], imdb.com. Accessed November 12, 2023.

Waterman won five Emmy Awards for his work on underwater films and TV programs.

In 2005, Waterman published Sea Salt: Memories and Essays, with forewords by Peter Benchley and Howard Hall.Stan Waterman. Sea Salt: Memories and Essays. Jacksonville: New World Publications, 2005.Edited by Ned DeLoach, Ken Marks, and William Warmuspersonal communication He also wrote essays for Ocean Realm magazine. In 2013, Waterman took his last dive in the Cayman Islands at the age of 90. He died on August 10, 2023, at the age of 100.{{cite news |last1=Evans |first1=Mark |title=Dive industry mourns Stan Waterman |url=https://www.scubadivermag.com/dive-industry-mourns-stan-waterman/ |access-date=November 12, 2023 |publisher=Scuba Diver Mag |date=August 11, 2023}}