Biography
Douglas Knapp was an American cinematographer and camera operator. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he grew up in Calgary, Alberta, and graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1972, where he studied alongside John Carpenter.
Knapp served as cinematographer on Carpenter’s Dark Star (1974) and Assault on Precinct 13 (1976). He worked as camera operator on Carpenter’s Escape from New York (1981) and on Tim Burton films including Frankenweenie (1984) and Beetlejuice (1988), as well as Back to School (1986), Coming to America (1988), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) and Driving Miss Daisy (1992). His television credits include extensive work on Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise.
Knapp received the President’s Award from the Society of Camera Operators in 1994. He taught cinematography at the Los Angeles Film School and West Los Angeles College. He died in 2020.
