Bird, Richard, 1892-1986 : Will "Dick" Bird, Canadian cinematographer, was born in Leamington Spa, England on August 16, 1892 and died in Regina, Saskatchewan on September 28, 1986. He moved to Vermont circa 1907 to live with his uncle. By 1912 he was working as a newsreel cameraman. Over the next several years he moved around the U.S., filming news stories, animated cartoons, travelogues and other types of motion pictures. Bird moved to Canada circa 1918 to work for the Toronto-based company Pathescope of Canada Limited. At Pathescope, Bird shot films for the Ontario and Saskatchewan governments, covered the 1919 tour of the Prince of Wales and filmed news stories for the Canadian National Pictorial and other newsreels. Pathescope sent him to shoot film in the Far East in 1920 and 1921 and while on this trip Bird covered the famine in China. Bird was instrumental in early efforts by Canadian cameramen to unionize, serving as president of the Canadian Press Photographers Association and IATSE Local 636 Cinematographers and MotionmPicture Craftsmen. In 1922, Bird founded the Canadian Cinema Arts Society. He moved to Regina, Saskatchewan in the early 1920s. There, he set up a studio and a laboratory. Bird worked as a freelance newsreel photographer and independent film producer. He shot documentaries for the Saskatchewan government, dramatized documentaries, travelogues and wildlife films. Bird encouraged the use of film by amateurs through his work with the Regina Screen Players and the Regina Amateur Cine Club. In the 1930s he also hosted travel and nature programs on Regina radio station CKCK. From the 1940s to the 1960s, Bird and his wife Ada toured Canada, the U.S. and Great Britain, showing his wildlife and travel films and giving lectures about nature and conservation. Over the course of his career, Bird shot film in many locations, including the West Indies, South America, New Zealand and Europe. He was a Fellow of the Photographic Society of America, a Fellow of the Royal Zoological Society and an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society. Peter Morris, The Film Companion, p. 32.
Variety, Vol. 324, No. 12, October 15, 1986, p. 192.
