Peter Gimbel | |
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| Born | Peter R. Gimbel (1927-02-14)February 14, 1927 New York City, US |
| Died | July 12, 1987(1987-07-12) (aged 60) |
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| Children | 2 |
| Parent | Bernard Gimbel |
| Family | Adam Gimbel (great-grandfather) |
Peter R. Gimbel (February 14, 1927 – July 12, 1987) was an American filmmaker and underwater photojournalist.
Born inNew York City, he was the son of Alva (née Bernheimer) andBernard Feustman Gimbel and heir to theGimbels department store chain.[1][2][3] His great grandfather wasAdam Gimbel.[4] He had two sisters, Hope Gimbel Solinger and Caral Gimbel Lebworth;[2][3] and one brother, David Alva Gimbel.[5] After serving in the United States Army occupation force in Japan in 1946–1947, he graduated fromYale University in 1951, earning degrees in both English and economics.[6] He spent ten years as an investment banker but after the death of his twin brother at age 29, he left banking to pursue a career in exploration. He parachuted into the Peruvian Andes with G. Brooks Baekeland (grandson ofLeo Baekeland, the inventor of Bakelite) and Peter Lake in search of the lost Inca city ofVilcabamba.[7]
He was the first to dive the wreck ofSS Andrea Doria and his photos of the ship were published inLife magazine in August 1956.[6][8] He produced two documentaries about the shipThe Mystery of the Andrea Doria andAndrea Doria: The Final Chapter.[2] He opened the safe of the Andrea Doria on live television in August 1984 at the New York Aquarium.
Gimbel also directed and produced the 1971 filmBlue Water, White Death which was the first cinematic filming ofgreat white shark, featuringRon Taylor andValerie Taylor,Rodney Fox,Stan Waterman and Peter Lake.[9][10] The shark's attack on Lake's cage at the end of the film inspiredPeter Benchley's book,Jaws.[11]
Gimbel married three times.[12] His first wife was socialite Mary Bailey[12] with whom he had two children, Peter Bailey Gimbel and Leslie Gimbel Goldman[12][13] (Bailey remarried to directorSidney Lumet).[14] His second wife was model Virginia Taylor.[12][15] In 1978, he married actressElga Andersen.[12]
Peter Gimbel succumbed to cancer on July 12, 1987, at the age of 60.[16]
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