Ellis F. (Bud) Thackery; Retired Director of Photography

Ellis F. (Bud) Thackery, a longtime director of photography, has died in Los Angeles. He was 87.

Thackery worked in the film industry for 52 years and was a master of process photography, also called rear projection, a method of filming a landscape to use as a backdrop on a sound stage.

The Chatsworth resident died Sunday of natural causes, said his daughter-in-law, Diane Thackery.

Born Jan. 31, 1903, in Shawnee, Okla., Thackery came to California in the early 1920s. During the silent film era, he apprenticed as a matte and glass artist. In 1935, he began working at Republic Pictures, where he was head of the process department and director of photography on 200 films. He was nominated for an Academy Award for special photographic effects for “Women in War” in 1940.

After Republic went out of business in the late 1950s, he worked as a director of photography at Universal Studios until his retirement in 1976.

He is survived by his sons, Frank Thackery of North Hollywood and Bill Thackery of Fullerton; a daughter, Connie Bellin of Linden, Calif.; a sister, Cora Thackery of Fullerton; 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

A Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday at St. John Eudes Catholic Church, 9901 Mason Ave., Chatsworth, with burial to follow at Oakwood Memorial Park. Arrangements were made by Bastian & Perrott Mortuary in Northridge. Donations can be made in Thackery’s name to the Motion Picture Relief Fund.