{{Short description|American cinematographer}} {{Infobox person | name = Friend Baker | birth_name = Friend Frederick Baker | birth_date = April 10, 1890 | birth_place = Nebraska, US | death_date = March 20, 1988 (aged 98) | death_place = Orange, California, US | occupation = Cinematographer | spouse = Annabelle Jackson }}
'''Friend Baker''' was an American cinematographer who worked in Hollywood in the 1910s and 1920s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=27 Feb 1953|title=3-Dimensions Fill Hollywood with Optimism|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/38972002/?terms=%22friend%20baker%22&match=1|access-date=2021-03-27|website=The Times|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S08_AAAAYAAJ&q=%22friend+baker%22+cinematographer|title=American Cinematographer|date=1922|publisher=ASC Holding Corporation|language=en}}</ref> Later on in his career, he worked as a camera technician.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Theakston|first=Jack|title=House of Wax|journal=Library of Congress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Raimondo-Souto|first=H. Mario|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2aNMXaOSboAC&dq=%22friend+baker%22+cinematographer&pg=PA127|title=Motion Picture Photography: A History, 1891-1960|date=2014-11-18|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-8407-2|language=en}}</ref> He was an early member of the American Society of Cinematographers.
== Biography == Friend was born in Nebraska to Jesse Baker and Jennie Wallace.
Among his innovations as a cameraman, he reportedly built an early 3-D camera alongside fellow cinematographer Virgil Williams while working at Universal Pictures in 1918.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mitchell|first=Rick|date=2004|title=The Tragedy of 3-D Cinema|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3815533|journal=Film History|volume=16|issue=3|pages=208–215|doi=10.2979/FIL.2004.16.3.208|jstor=3815533|issn=0892-2160|url-access=subscription}}</ref> He also developed an early technique for produced color film.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7EdJAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22friend+baker%22+cinematographer&pg=PA126|title=Motion Picture Daily: Formerly Exhibitors Daily Review and Motion Pictures Today|date=1921|publisher=Exhibitors Trade Review, Incorporated|language=en}}</ref> He served as chief cameraman for the studio for a number of years.<ref>{{Cite web|date=8 Jun 1924|title=Trapping Tornadoes His Dream|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/380453086/?terms=%22friend%20baker%22&match=1|access-date=2021-03-27|website=The Los Angeles Times|language=en}}</ref>
He married Annabelle Jackson in Los Angeles in 1915. The pair had several children.
== Selected filmography ==
* ''Heart's Haven'' (1922) * ''The Gray Dawn'' (1922) * ''While the Devil Laughs'' (1921) * ''The Girl of My Heart'' (1920) * ''Trumpet Island'' (1920) * ''Merely Mary Ann'' (1920) * ''The Broken Commandments'' (1919) * ''Chasing Rainbows'' (1919) * ''The Sneak'' (1919) * ''The Rebellious Bride'' (1919) * ''Hell-Roarin' Reform'' (1919) * ''The Call of the Soul'' (1919) * ''Kultur'' (1918) * ''The Bird of Prey'' (1918) * ''The Scarlet Road'' (1918) * ''The Devil's Wheel'' (1918) * ''Nobody's Wife'' (1918) * ''Painted Lips'' (1918) * ''Her American Husband'' (1918) * ''Cheyenne's Pal'' (1917) * ''The Clean-Up'' (1917) * ''The Car of Chance'' (1917) * ''The Clock'' (1917) * ''The Man Who Took a Chance'' (1917) * ''The Devil's Pay Day'' (1917) * ''Love Never Dies'' (1916) * ''What Love Can Do'' (1916) * ''The Long Chance'' (1915)
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Friend}} Category:American cinematographers Category:1890 births Category:1988 deaths Category:Mass media people from Nebraska
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