David Worth, Director of ‘Kickboxer’ and DP of ‘Any Which Way You Can,’ Dies at 86 — SkimNews
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- David Worth died Sept. 4 in Sunland, Calif., at age 86
- Worth served as cinematographer on Clint Eastwood's 'Bronco Billy' and 'Any Which Way You Can,' both released in 1980
- Worth moved into directing after shooting Jean-Claude Van Damme's 'Bloodsport,' going on to helm 1989's 'Kickboxer' starring Van Damme
- Worth directed episodes of the 'Air America' TV series and features including 'Shark Attack 2' and 'Shark Attack 3'
- His other cinematography credits include 'China Cry: A True Story,' 'Lady Dragon,' 'American Tigers,' 'Raptor Island,' 'Man With the Screaming Brain,' and 'Alien Apocalypse'
- Worth was also an author and teacher who earned his master's degree in 2016; his books include 'Milestones in Cinema: 50 Visionary Films & Filmmakers,' 'Orson Welles Crash Course in Cinematography,' and 'Zen & the Art of Independent Filmmaking (a cautionary tale)'
- Jean-Claude Van Damme remembered Worth on Instagram, writing that Worth's 'talent and vision helped create two martial arts classics that changed my life'
Why it matters: Worth's career tracks the direct line from Eastwood's 1980 releases to the Van Damme martial-arts films of the late 1980s — shooting 'Bloodsport' and then directing 'Kickboxer' places him as a hands-on link between those productions. The detail his daughter flags, that his family routinely joined him on location, also recasts a working lifetime of low-budget shoots as a family affair.
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