Saraf died on 26 December (12) at his home in San Francisco, California after a three-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
He worked as cinematographer, producer, editor and director on a score of Hollywood films, and was the post-production supervisor for 1975’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, starring Jack Nicholson.
In 1991, he scooped the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for In the Shadow of the Stars, which focused on the chorus members of the San Francisco Opera, rather than its big-name stars.
He is survived by his producing partner and second wife Allie Light as well as his children Michal, Ilana, Alexis, Charles, Julia and Peter Saraf, an Oscar-nominated producer who worked on movies including Adaptation, Little Miss Sunshine and Our Idiot Brother.
