Gary Conklin, an L.A.-based documentary filmmaker who covered subjects including art, literature and cinema, died Dec. 26. He was 92.
Born in Fresno, Calif., Conklin grew up in San Francisco and moved to Pasadena as a teenager. He graduated USC and served in Special Services in the Army.
After moving to New York to study acting, he lived in Paris and Rome and met his wife Julia while working in the Italian film business. After they returned to the U.S., he attended USC for postgraduate film studies.
Conklin’s first documentary was “Paul Bowles in Morocco,” about the notable author. He followed that with “Rufino Tamayo: The Sources of His Art,” featuring John Huston and Octavio Paz talking about the Mexican painter.
His other films explored Weimar culture in “Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture,” featuring Arthur Koestler, Christopher Isherwood, and Louise Brooks; “LA Suggested by the Art of Ed Ruscha” and “Gore Vidal: The Man Who Said No.” He also made “Notes From Under the Volcano” about John Huston and the making of the 1984 film and “A Question of Class” about British literary life in the first half of the 20th century.
Conklin is survived by his wife, Julia Conklin, and his children, Alexis, Lucrezia, and Mallory.
