Another loss suffered in our industry.

[Gregory Irwin]

This morning I received the horrible news that another icon in cinematography has passed away. Denny Clairmont fell yesterday in his kitchen at home and never recovered. He was in his 70s. Denny, along with his brother Terry, owned and operated Clairmont Camera which supplied numerous Hollywood productions and camera departments for over three decades. They were a powerhouse in the industry. I personally had prepped cameras for movies at Clairmont Camera dating back to 1980 till they sold their inventory to Keslow Camera just a few years ago. Denny as well celebrated as he was, had just started to enjoy his retirement. We will all miss his graciousness, his knowledge and mostly, his friendship. 
 

G

[David Mullen ASC]

Such sad news. I know I'm getting old when all of the people I got to know as a beginner have retired and some have passed away. I'll miss Denny's distinctive voice and his knowledge, his generosity.

I used to hang out at Clairmont a lot as a student and would visit often. I didn't rent there as much as I would have liked because, truthfully, they catered to commercial work, bigger features, and had commercial rates, so after the bids came in, I ended up at Otto's or Panavision instead. But I loved the range of gear there -- I remember they had gotten ahold of some Technirama 1.5X anamorphic lenses that they showed me, but back then, there wasn't any use for them. Don't know what happened to them. They had the original Todd-AO 35mm anamorphics that ended up at Keslow, which I used on "Westworld" in Season 2. They had some tiny anamorphic primes made for Steadicam work too that I shot (with David Klein) a short film on.

Denny could always be relied on to give you advice and help out.

[Tyler Purcell]

I've been blessed to be in the right place at the right time at several points in my life. The ending of Clairmont camera was one such time. I was involved in the auction and once it was over, I spent so much time there in the days and weeks after, we became friends and talked all the time. I would spend hours in his office, helping him wrap his life into bubble wrap and carry them down to his Corvette. He shard so many stories with me about his brother and the history of Arriflex. Many of those stories were fun to hear from Andree Martin's side as well. In the last few days, I felt like a full time employee, spending most of my time with Denny, who allowed me take pretty much anything that was remaining in the building. I truly cherished our moments together and absorbing some of the knowledge and experience of his past.

Denny has been missed in hollywood since Clairmont's closing and it's truly sad he died in an accident at home. 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Tyler Purcell

[Andrew Trost]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with him.  The name Clairmont is ubiquitous, but I didn't know much about Denny at all, so I appreciate these stories!  RIP 

Just as an aside...

16 hours ago, David Mullen ASC said:

But I loved the range of gear there -- I remember they had gotten ahold of some Technirama 1.5X anamorphic lenses that they showed me, but back then, there wasn't any use for them

I'd love to see those lenses being employed on something nowadays!  I don't know enough about the history of those formats to speak on it intelligently, but VistaVision and Technirama are super intriguing.  

[Shawn Martin]

Very sorry to hear this. I didn't know Denny but had corresponded with him via email.

Almost ten years ago, I used the "contact" form on the Clairmont website to ask a rather (IMO) mundane question about a film they'd recently serviced. I was so surprised to get a response from none other than Denny himself. He was very, very nice about it, and so knowledgeable too. He also mentioned some other projects of the director's that he'd worked on. I really appreciated the fact that he took the time to reply (as he said he was at home, and about to head to Europe on business), and told him so.

Just a wonderful guy. RIP.