Biography
Eric Saarinen (1942–2024) was an American cinematographer and film director. He served as director of photography on Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and Albert Brooks’s Real Life (1979), and later collaborated with Brooks on Modern Romance (1981) and Lost in America (1985).
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Saarinen was the son of architect Eero Saarinen and sculptor Lilian Swann Saarinen. He worked as a camera operator on the Rolling Stones documentary Gimme Shelter (1970) and was nominated for an Academy Award for the short documentary Exploratorium (1974). He also directed and produced a documentary about his father for the PBS series American Masters.
Saarinen shot and directed numerous television commercials, winning multiple Clio Awards and other honours. He became a member of the American Society of Cinematographers and was inducted for his work in commercials.
