Hall of Fame cameraman/director Jane Waters, whose real name was John Keeler, is reported dead of a heart attack at age 68. Waters died in Pittsburgh over the weekend and had moved there with his wife, Tilly, in January.
Keeler began his career in the adult business back in New York in the mid 1960’s when he appeared as a performer in a number of exploitation movies such as “Lust Weekend,” all directed by Ron Sullivan.
“He was a remarkably talented man,” says Bill Margold, remembering Keeler who shot and directed for practically every adult studio in the business.
“He helped John Stagliano…Paul Thomas…he helped Rob Black. The best stuff I ever did is when I directed movies Keeler shot. I’d tell him what I wanted and he’d add another 100 percent to it. He was a genuinely talented man. I’m really hurt by his passing.”
Waters got his start in the industry by editing the 1985 Dark Brothers classic New Wave Hookers (VCA Pictures), and chose his pseudonym as a nod to cult director John Waters.
Paul Thomas, speaking to www.AVN.com had similarl words to offer about Waters.
“He was just the most artful d.p. I’ve ever worked with,” Thomas said.
“He’s the one that taught me how to set up shots, and how you just didn’t shoot something; shots had texture and lighting and mood and movement, and you could really make portaits out of shots.”
Thomas noted that as far as he knew, Waters was “really healthy. I’m the one snorting up half of Colombia, and he gets a heart attack. Just very sober, didn’t smoke, and ate very healthy, and see what you get?”
Some of the movies Waters collaborated on with Thomas included Jenna Jameson Is the Masseuse, Bonnie and Clyde and House of Sleeping Beauties (all from Vivid Entertainment).
Thomas said that he and Waters met in a very only-in-porn manner: “We were both the same boyfriend of a porn actress named Jacqueline Lorians. We were trading off evenings with her.”
Speaking as well to www.xbiz.com, Thomas, who knew Keeler for 30 years said he had a long conversation with him about three weeks ago, speaking to him for the first time in an extended period.
“He seemed to be happy. We worked together constantly over the years. Next to [Ralph Parfait], he’s the second guy I worked with the most. He was the most artful cameraman in the business. He composed more artful shots than anyone I’ve ever worked with.”
Thomas continued, “He was also extremely temperamental. He and I used to get into big cat fights. I remember on ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ with Racquel Darrian [in 1993] he walked off the set. He walked off the set with me regularly, it was just part of our routine.
“But we remained very good friends. He was one of the few people I continued to talk to after I left Vivid [in 2009]. He was a very, very unique guy — sober and very intelligent, a very sensitive artist.
“He certainly seemed to have tons of life left in him.”