John Scott Biddle (1925â€"2008) was a foremost yachting
cinematographer and lecturer, establishing a film-making career that
spanned more than forty years. His films captured not only the
technical aspects of sailing but also the human story in events as
tranquil as a Nova Scotia cruise and as grand as the America's Cup
Races.Biddle was born on June 7, 1925, near Philadelphia, the fourth
of five children. His parents, were both from prominent Philadelphia
families. His father was Brigadier General Nicholas Biddle
(1893â€"1977), whose great-grandfather was Nicholas Biddle, President
of the Second Bank of the United States. His mother was Sarah
Lippincott Biddle (1894â€"1962), whose paternal grandfather Joshua
Ballinger Lippincott (1813â€"1886) founded J. B. Lippincott Company,
and maternal grandfather Joseph Wharton (1826â€"1909) founded the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His colorful family
included cousins Livingston L. Biddle, Jr. and Anthony Joseph Drexel
Biddle, Jr.Biddle's father served a lifelong term with the National
Guard, was active in both World Wars, and was a well-noted, big-game
hunter. He was commissioned to travel the world and bring back
specimens; some of his ‘trophies’ still reside at Philadelphia's
Academy of Natural Sciences. During Nicholas’ travels, he would film
the hunts, then return home and allow young John to experiment with
his movie camera and all his unexposed film.John tinkered further with
the camera at his family's summer home in Jamestown, Rhode Island,
where he also mastered the idiosyncrasies of ocean sailing. Focusing
on his brothers, sisters and twelve cousins as subjects on and around
Narragansett Bay, he refined his choice of angles, composition,
containment of action within the frame and editing.
cinematographer and lecturer, establishing a film-making career that
spanned more than forty years. His films captured not only the
technical aspects of sailing but also the human story in events as
tranquil as a Nova Scotia cruise and as grand as the America's Cup
Races.Biddle was born on June 7, 1925, near Philadelphia, the fourth
of five children. His parents, were both from prominent Philadelphia
families. His father was Brigadier General Nicholas Biddle
(1893â€"1977), whose great-grandfather was Nicholas Biddle, President
of the Second Bank of the United States. His mother was Sarah
Lippincott Biddle (1894â€"1962), whose paternal grandfather Joshua
Ballinger Lippincott (1813â€"1886) founded J. B. Lippincott Company,
and maternal grandfather Joseph Wharton (1826â€"1909) founded the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His colorful family
included cousins Livingston L. Biddle, Jr. and Anthony Joseph Drexel
Biddle, Jr.Biddle's father served a lifelong term with the National
Guard, was active in both World Wars, and was a well-noted, big-game
hunter. He was commissioned to travel the world and bring back
specimens; some of his ‘trophies’ still reside at Philadelphia's
Academy of Natural Sciences. During Nicholas’ travels, he would film
the hunts, then return home and allow young John to experiment with
his movie camera and all his unexposed film.John tinkered further with
the camera at his family's summer home in Jamestown, Rhode Island,
where he also mastered the idiosyncrasies of ocean sailing. Focusing
on his brothers, sisters and twelve cousins as subjects on and around
Narragansett Bay, he refined his choice of angles, composition,
containment of action within the frame and editing.
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