In Memoriam — James Pergola, ASC (1932-2026)
The cinematographer's career included key collaborations with leading underwater artisans and a near-decade-long stint as director of photography and producer on Baywatch.
James Pergola, ASC, who helped immortalize Los Angeles as the nexus of sun and fun as the longtime director of photography of Baywatch, died in Naples, Fla., on Feb. 23, 2026, at the age of 93. He shot 145 episodes of the series from its inception in 1989 until 1998. He was also a producer on the show for seven seasons.
When Pergola was born, on Nov. 1, 1932, he already had family in the trade — his father, James V. Pergola, had started working in the camera department at Famous Players Film Co. at age 18 and was by then employed by Fox Movietone News, chronicling some of the biggest events of the day. In 1937, when young Jim was 4, his father died while on assignment for Pathé News; he was flying from New York to Los Angeles, and a blizzard blew the plane off course and over the Uinta Mountains in Utah, where it crashed.
Pergola’s own career behind the camera began in 1955, following his honorable discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps, and although it started on familiar ground — Fox Movietone in New York — it would eventually encompass jobs his father scarcely could have imagined. After apprenticing with J.F. Painter, ASC in the camera department at Fox Movietone, Pergola served as an assistant cameraman on CinemaScope short subjects and travelogues that took him all over the world. Settling in Miami, he worked for Ivan Tors Films on a variety of animal-centered adventure films and television projects and forged what became a lifelong connection with underwater cameraman and inventor Jordan Klein. Pergola assisted Klein early on, and the two later often collaborated on productions as main-unit cinematographer (Pergola) and underwater cinematographer (Klein). Pergola also assisted and operated for ASC members Russell Metty, Meredith Nicholson and Charles F. Wheeler, among others, on a mix of television and feature productions. After working on Tor’s series Gentle Ben and Flipper, Pergola moved up to director of photography on the series Salty. He notched his first feature credit on 1977’s Thunder and Lightning.
Though Pergola was based in Florida throughout his career, his most prominent assignment kept him in L.A. for nearly a decade. Veteran underwater cinematographer Pete Romano, ASC, who collaborated with Pergola on several episodes of Baywatch, notes that Pergola was eminently qualified to take the reins on the beach-based adventure series, which followed a team of Los Angeles lifeguards executing ocean rescues and navigating interpersonal drama. Romano recalls, “Jim had a lot of experience working on films shooting on and under the water … he was perfect for Baywatch and brought a calm presence to the hectic shoot days on the water. I always enjoyed working with him; he wasn’t one to micromanage.”
Klein’s son, Jordan Jr., who ran a Baywatch splinter unit for Pergola in Florida, calls the cinematographer a lifelong mentor. “Jimmy’s kids were around my age, so when he was working with my dad, we shared a babysitter. Later on, when I started assisting him and my dad, he’d always give me pointers. One was, ‘Always do your best because there’s no ‘i’ in team and no ‘u’ in ‘next job.’ He did not suffer fools and did not put up with dilly-dallying on set. He was an ex-Marine and old school. He had the same crew for years, and they worked like clockwork.”
Pergola’s feature credits included Assault on Devil’s Island, Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach, Smokey and the Bandit 3, What Comes Around and Hardly Working. His extensive work in TV also included the series Baywatch Nights, the miniseries Gambler II and the telefilms Wet Gold and The Wizard of Elm Street. He was 2nd-unit cinematographer on Major League and Harry & Son, among other projects.
Pergola became a member of the ASC on June 2, 1986, after his name was put forward by Victor Duncan, Jack Richards and Robert Jessup. “Over the years,” he noted in his prospective-member statement, “I [was] fortunate to work for some of the world’s finest directors of photography, to whom I will always be grateful for sharing their wisdom, experience, friendship and, especially, their patience.”
In 2009, he reflected on his career and his father’s in a first-person piece for the Naples Daily News. “I humbly attempted to follow in my father’s footsteps,” he wrote, “but I could never fill them.”
