Abraham Zapruder | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1905-05-15)May 15, 1905 |
| Died | August 30, 1970(1970-08-30) (aged 65) Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Resting place | Emanu-El Cemetery |
| Occupation | Dress manufacturer |
| Known for | Filminga home movie of theassassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Abraham Zapruder (May 15, 1905 – August 30, 1970) was a Ukrainian-born American clothing manufacturer based inDallas, Texas, who became known for his film work during theassassination of United States PresidentJohn F. Kennedy inDallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Of Russian-Jewish extraction, Zapruder resided in Dallas and founded a fashion company. On the day of the assassination, he unexpectedly captured the shooting in a home movie while filming Kennedy'spresidential limousine as it traveled throughDealey Plaza. TheZapruder film is regarded as the most complete footage of the assassination. Zapruder died in 1970.
Abraham Zapruder was born into a Jewish family in the city ofKovel, theRussian Empire (nowUkraine), the son of Israel Zapruder.[1] He received only four years of formal education in Ukraine. In 1909, his father left for North America. In 1918, Abraham Zapruder left Kovel forWarsaw with his family. His brother Morris was murdered by Polish police in 1918. In 1920, his family emigrated to the United States, settling inBrooklyn, New York, where they were reunited with Israel Zapruder.[2][3]
Studying English at night, he found work as a clothing pattern maker inManhattan's garment district. In 1933, he married Lillian Sapovnik (1913–1993); they went on to have two children.[4] Zapruder was aFreemason and an Inspector-General (33rd degree) of theScottish Rite.[5]
In 1941, Zapruder moved to Dallas, Texas, to work for Nardis, a local sportswear company. In 1949, he co-founded Jennifer Juniors, Inc., producing the Chalet and Jennifer Juniors brands of dresses.[6][7][8][a] His Jennifer Juniors offices were on the fourth floor of theDal-Tex Building,[13] across the street from theTexas School Book Depository.[14]
Zapruder was an admirer of President Kennedy and considered himself aDemocrat. Zapruder's aunt, Myrna, had gone toDallas Love Field that morning to see President Kennedy and the First Lady upon their arrival. His uncle, Myron, was positioned on Main Street to watch the motorcade go by.[15] Zapruder had originally planned to film the motorcade carrying President Kennedy through downtown Dallas on November 22, but he decided not to because it had been raining that morning. When he arrived at work that morning without his camera, Zapruder's assistant Lillian Rogers insisted that he retrieve it from home before going to Dealey Plaza because the weather had cleared.[16]
Zapruder's movie camera was an 8 mmBell & Howell Zoomatic Director Series Model 414 PD—top-of-the-line when it was purchased in 1962.[17] Making films was one of Zapruder's favorite hobbies for over 30 years.[3] Zapruder had planned to film the motorcade from his office window but opted for a better spot in Dealey Plaza where the motorcade would be passing.[18] He stood atop a 4-foot (1.2 m) concrete abutment extending from theJohn Neely Bryan concretepergola on thegrassy knoll north of Elm Street on the opposite side of theTexas School Book Depository to the north in Dealey Plaza.[19] Zapruder's secretary,Marilyn Sitzman, offered to assist Zapruder as he hadvertigo and was apprehensive about standing even at a small height of a few feet alone.[18]
While Sitzman stood behind Zapruder and held his coat to steady him, he began shooting the presidentialmotorcade as it turned from Houston Street onto Elm Street in front of the Book Depository.Zapruder's film captured 26.6 seconds of the traveling motorcade carrying President Kennedy on 486 frames ofKodakKodachrome II safety film. It infamously captured the fatal headshot that struck President Kennedy as his limousine passed almost directly in front of Zapruder and Sitzman's position, 65 feet (20 m) from the center of Elm Street.[20]
Zapruder later recalled that he immediately knew that President Kennedy's wounds were fatal as he saw the president's head "...explode like a firecracker." and that he shouted repeatedly "They're killed him!"[16][21] Walking back to his office amid the confusion following the shots, Zapruder encounteredThe Dallas Morning News reporter Harry McCormick, who had been standing near Zapruder and had noticed he was filming the motorcade. McCormick was acquainted with Agent Forrest Sorrels of theSecret Service's Dallas office, and offered to bring Sorrels to Zapruder's office.[22][23] Zapruder agreed and returned to his office. McCormick later found Sorrels outside the Sheriff's office at Main and Houston, and together they went to Zapruder's office.
Zapruder agreed to give the film to Sorrels on the condition it would be used only for investigation of the assassination. The three then took the film to the television stationWFAA intending to have it developed. After it was realized that WFAA was unable to do so, the film was taken toEastman Kodak's Dallas processing plant later that afternoon, where it was developed around 6:30 p.m. As the Kodachrome process requires different equipment for duplication than development, the original print was taken to theJamieson Film Company, where three additional copies were made; these were returned to Kodak around 8 p.m. for processing. Zapruder kept the original, plus one copy, and gave the other two copies to Sorrels, who sent them to Secret Service headquarters in Washington.
While at WFAA, Zapruder described on live television the assassination of President Kennedy:
Jay Watson (WFAA, Dallas)
- [...] May I have your name, please, sir?
- Abraham Zapruder
- My name is Abraham Zapruder.
- Watson
- Mister, ZAP-puh-dah?
- Zapruder
- ZAP-pru-der, yes, sir.
- Watson
- ZAP-pru-dah. And would you tell us your story, please, sir?
- Zapruder
- I got out in, uh, about a half-hour earlier to get a good spot to shoot some pictures. And I found a spot—one of these concrete blocks they have down near that park, near the underpass. And I got on top there; there was another girl from my office; she was right behind me. And as I was shooting—as the President was coming down from Houston Street making his turn; it was about a half-way down there—I heard a shot, and he slumped to the side, like this. Then I heard another shot or two—I couldn't say [whether] it was one or two—and I saw his head practically open up[places fingers of right hand to right side of head in a narrow cone, over his right ear], all blood and everything, and I kept on shooting. That's about all. I'm just sick. I can't...
- Watson
- I think that pretty well expresses the entire feelings of the whole world.
- Zapruder
- Terrible, terrible.
- Watson
- You have the film in your camera; we'll try to get...
- Zapruder
- Yes, I brought it on the studio, now.
- Watson
- We'll try to get that processed and have it as soon as possible.[24]
Late that evening, Zapruder was contacted at home by Richard Stolley, an editor atLife magazine (and first editor of the futurePeople magazine). They arranged to meet the following morning to view the film, after which Zapruder sold the print rights toLife for $50,000.[25] Stolley was representing Time/Life on behalf of publisherCharles Douglas Jackson.
The following day (November 24),Life purchased all rights to the film for a total of $150,000 (approximately $1,541,000 today).[26][27]
The night after the assassination, Zapruder said that he had a nightmare in which he saw a booth inTimes Square advertising "See the President's head explode!"[28] He determined that, while he was willing to make money from the film, he did not want the public to see the full horror of what he had seen. Therefore, a condition of the sale toLife was that frame 313, showing the fatal shot, would be withheld from the public.[29] Although he made a profit from selling the film, he asked that the amount he was paid not be publicly disclosed. He later donated $25,000 (about $257,000 today) of the money he was paid to the widow of Dallas police officerJ. D. Tippit, who was shot dead less than an hour after President Kennedy was shot.[16][30][31]
Zapruder testified to theWarren Commission and was asked for his impression regarding the direction of the shots by assistant Commission counselWesley Liebeler:
LIEBELER: Did you form any opinion about the direction from which the shots came by the sound, or were you just upset by the thing you had seen?
ZAPRUDER: No, there was too much reverberation. There was an echo which gave me a sound all over. In other words that square is kind of—it had a sound all over.
Zapruder added that while he did not recollect a belief on the directions of the shots, he had assumed an impression when "I saw motorcycle policemen running right behind me--I guess they thought it came from right behind me...I also thought it came from in back of me."[32]
Zapruder recalled the assassination, saying that when he saw the president react to his throat wound, he thought that the president was joking until he saw him shot in the head, whereupon he broke down and wept. At the end of his testimony, he stated, "I am ashamed of myself. I didn’t know I was going to break down and for a man to-but it was a tragic thing, and when you started asking me that, and I saw the thing all over again, and it was an awful thing-I know very few people who had seen it like that-it was an awful thing and I loved the President, and to see that happen before my eyes-his head just opened up and shot down like a dog-it leaves a very, very deep sentimental impression with you; it’s terrible."[33] He broke down again when he testified in 1969 for thetrial of Clay Shaw.[34]
Zapruder rejectedconspiracy theorists' claims as "sensational literature" and supported the Warren Commission's conclusion (thatLee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, killed Kennedy). He never filmed with a camera again following the assassination.[35][36]
Zapruder died ofstomach cancer at the age of 65 in Dallas on August 30, 1970, atParkland Memorial Hospital,[37] the same hospital where Kennedy, Oswald andJack Ruby, who shot Oswald, died; he was buried in the Emanu-El Cemetery in Dallas.[38]
In 1975, Time, Inc. (which ownedLife magazine) sold the film back to the Zapruder family for $1. In 1978, the Zapruders allowed the film to be stored at theNational Archives and Records Administration where it remains. In 1999, the Zapruders donated the copyright of the film to theSixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.[16]
Media personalityAndrew Denton founded a production company named after Zapruder called "Zapruder's Other Films".[39]
Zapruder was the subject of a 1993BBC special.[40]
Zapruder has been portrayed by:
His granddaughterAlexandra Zapruder wrote the 2016 bookTwenty-Six Seconds: A Personal History of the Zapruder Film, detailing Zapruder's life.[41][42]
