James S. Brown Jr.

Prolific, long-time cinematographer for Columbia Pictures, who began his career with Edison in the 1910s. Never in the front ranks (probably due to a rough life of hard drinking, which he, unlike other alcoholic "masters of light," could not keep under control) Brown was a competent craftsman whose speed made him ideal for numerous B productions for various low-rent studios, as well as several Columbia serials, notably "Ellery Queen" and "Crime Doctor." Brown made the front page of Los Angeles newspapers in 1949 after shooting himself to death before his pleading wife and neighbors.