Abraham Zapruder

Abraham Zapruder (May 15, 1905 – August 30, 1970), a manufacturer of women's clothing, filmed U.S. President John F. Kennedy's motorcade traveling through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas and unexpectedly recorded the entire John F. Kennedy assassination. Picture of Abraham Zapruder File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... August 30 is the 242nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (243rd in leap years), with 123 days remaining. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... The presidential seal was used by President Hayes in 1880 and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii. ... John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. ... Dealey Plaza (Warren Commission exhibit #876) Dealey Plaza, (pronounced dee-lee) in the historic West End district of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA), is famous as the location of the John F. Kennedy assassination on November 22, 1963. ... ·· Flag Seal Nickname: Big D Location Location in the state of Texas Government Counties Dallas County Collin County Denton County Kaufman County Rockwall County Mayor Laura Miller Geographical characteristics Area     City 997. ... President Kennedy, with his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Texas Governor John Connally in the Presidential limousine shortly before the assassination. ...

Background

Abraham Zapruder was born into a Russian-Jewish family in the city of Kovel in Ukraine (then under the Russian Empire). He received only four years of formal education in Russia. In 1920 during the turmoil of the Russian Civil War, he emigrated to the United States and settled in Brooklyn, New York. Coat of Arms, circa 1993 Kovel (In Ukrainian and in Russian: Ковель, in Polish: Kowel) is a town now situated in western Ukraine in the Volyn oblast. ... The Russian Civil War was fought from 1918 to 1922. ... A map of New York City, highlighting Brooklyn. ... State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki Official languages None Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ...

In 1941, he moved to Dallas to work in the garment industry and co-founded a company called Nardis. In 1959, he founded his own company that produced two clothing brands, Chalet and Jennifer, Jr.'s. His offices were located in the Dal-Tex Building, just off Dealey Plaza.  Warren Commission exhibit #876 showing the location of the Dal-Tex Building The Dal-Tex Building is a seven story office building located at 501 Elm Street in Dallas, Texas. ...

Zapruder was a supporter of the Democratic Party and a fan of President John F. Kennedy. When he learned that Kennedy's motorcade would pass through Dealey Plaza, he decided to film the procession with his Bell & Howell movie camera. His film captured the assassination of the President and has become one of the most studied pieces of film in history. The Democratic Party is one of the two major United States political parties. ... A procession of cars carrying VIPs, especially political figures. ... Abraham Zapruders Bell & Howell Zoomatic movie camera, in the collection of the US National Archives Founded in 1907 and headquartered in Skokie, Illinois, the Bell & Howell Company merged with Böwe Systec Inc in 2003 to become Böwe Bell & Howell. ...

Zapruder, realizing that he may have critical evidence, agreed to turn the footage over to Secret Service agent Forest Sorrels, but would only give him a copy. He retained the original footage for himself and began shopping it around to media outlets. Zapruder sold the original and the publishing rights to his film to Life Magazine for $150,000. He donated $25,000 of the proceeds to the widow of slain Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit. After his death, his heirs recovered the rights to the film. Because of both the secrecy of secret services and the controversial nature of the issues involved, there is some difficulty in separating the definitions of secret service, secret police, intelligence agency etc. ... A cover of Life Magazine from 1911 Life has been the name of two notable magazines published in the United States. ... J. D. Tippit (September 18, 1924-November 22, 1963) was a police officer with the Dallas Police Department, USA, who was slain by Lee Harvey Oswald after Oswald was stopped by Tippit following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. ...

While waiting for the film to be processed, he appeared on Dallas television station WFAA where he gave a now famous interview about an hour and a half after the assassination. He later screened the footage for law enforcement officials and several journalists including Dan Rather, who was a young CBS reporter at the time. WFAA is the ABC affiliate serving the Dallas/Fort Worth DMA with its transmitter located in the Cedar Hill. ... Dan Rather, from a telecast in October 2004. ... CBS (formerly an acronym for Columbia Broadcasting System, the former legal name of the network) is one of the largest television networks, and formerly one of the largest radio networks, in the United States. ...

Zapruder later testified before the Warren Commission and at the 1969 trial of Clay Shaw. He died of cancer in 1970 in Dallas. Warren Commission report cover page The Presidents Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as The Warren Commission, was established on November 29, 1963 by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of the U.S. President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. ... Clay Laverne Shaw (March 17, 1913 - August 14, 1974) was a successful businessman in New Orleans, Louisiana. ... When normal cells are damaged beyond repair, they are eliminated by apoptosis. ...

Zapruder was played by Ray LePere in the 1991 film JFK. JFK is an American film, first released on December 20, 1991, which purports to tell the history surrounding the President of the United States John F. Kennedys assassination. ...

Popular Culture

• Madtv, a comedy television show did a sketch showing other home movies Zapruder made, these were films of the family at birthday parties, Bar Mitzvahs, etc. The morbid twist was certain family members met unfortunate and bloody ends at the hands of an unseen assassin. After the clips are shown, Sam Donaldson (played by an actor on the show), the reporter who is presenting the movies, says that all these movies are the same and pleas to the Zapruder family to stop making movies.

MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series based on the popular humor magazine, Mad. ... Home movie, referring to any private or amateur motion picture photographic product shot and printed in any movie film format. ... A birthday is the date on which a person was born. ... When a Jewish child reaches the age of maturity (12 years and one day for girls, 13 years and one day for boys) that child becomes responsible for him/herself under Jewish law; at this point a boy is said to become Bar Mitzvah (בר מצווה, son of the commandment... Samuel Andrew Donaldson (born March 11, 1934 in El Paso, Texas) was a news anchor for ABC News, known for his persistence in questioning senior government officials up to and including the President of the United States. ...

Zapruder as assassination witness

Zapruder filmed the assassination using a then top-of-the-line Model 414 PD 8 mm Bell & Howell Zoomatic Director Series movie camera purchased in 1962 loaded with Kodak Kodachrome II safety film. This historic film footage is the "Zapruder film". Zapruder, who suffered from vertigo, had to be steadied by his secretary Marilyn Sitzman as he stood atop a pedestal that was part of a concrete pergola. Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) is a large multinational public company producing photographic equipment. ... Kodachrome (also known as Tripack) is a brand of color transparency (slide) film sold by Kodak. ... Frame 150 from the Zapruder Film The Zapruder film is the 8 mm home movie footage shot by Abraham Zapruder in Dallas, Texas, within Dealey Plaza while standing next to the grassy knoll during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. ... Vertigo, sometimes called a headrush, is the sensation of spinning while the body is stationary. ... In Valencia a newly-installed pergola shows its structure, which the climbing roses will cover. ...

After the assassination, Zapruder returned to his office where a reporter and secret service agent Forrest Sorrels turned up within an hour. Realizing the importance of the footage but still shocked by what he had seen, Zapruder agreed to turn the film over to Sorrels provided that it was only for the use of the Secret Service and others investigating the assassination, as he also wanted to sell the film. The group took the film to television station WFAA where Zapruder appeared on air less than two hours after the assassination. But WFAA had no capability to develop 8 mm film and so it was taken to Eastman Kodak who agreed to process it immediately. WFAA is the ABC affiliate serving the Dallas/Fort Worth DMA with its transmitter located in the Cedar Hill. ...

Three copies were run off, with two going to the Secret Service and one to Zapruder. That night, Zapruder is said to have had a nightmare in which he was walking through Times Square and saw a booth advertising "See the President's head explode!" He determined that, while he wanted to make money from the film, he did not want the full horror of what was seen to be made public. On November 25, 1963, Zapruder sold the film to Life Magazine for $150,000, divided into six annual payments of $25,000. Zapruder donated his first $25,000 payment to the widow of murdered Dallas policeman J. D. Tippit. Part of the deal with Life was that Frame 313, showing the fatal shot, would not be shown. Times Square, named after the one-time headquarters of The New York Times, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, which centers on 42nd Street and Broadway. ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... A cover of Life Magazine from 1911 Life has been the name of two notable magazines published in the United States. ... Image:Tippit. ...

Testimony

At 9:55 p.m. Dallas time on November 22, United States PRS Special Agent Maxwell D. Phillips sent a hand-written memo (Warren Commission Document, CD87) to U.S. Secret Service Chief James Rowley that accompanied one of the first generation copies said of Zapruder's origins of at least one shot, "According to Mr Zapruder the position of the assassin was behind Mr Zapruder." Behind Mr. Zapruder was the Dealey Plaza grassy knoll. However, in his testimony to the Warren Commission Zapruder was less certain: November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Because of both the secrecy of secret services and the controversial nature of the issues involved, there is some difficulty in separating the definitions of secret service, secret police, intelligence agency etc. ... Dealey Plaza (Warren Commission exhibit #876) Dealey Plaza, (pronounced dee-lee) in the historic West End district of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA), is famous as the location of the John F. Kennedy assassination on November 22, 1963. ... Warren Commission report cover page The Presidents Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as The Warren Commission, was established on November 29, 1963 by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of the U.S. President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. ...

Mr. 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?

Mr. 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.

External links

• Zapruder's testimony during the Clay Shaw trial
• Video of JFK assassination that Zapruder shot
• Longer, lesser quality of video of JFK assassination that Zapruder shot