Pete Jurgens

Pete Jurgens (b. 29/06/1923 – d. 17/03/1963) was a cinematographer.

Biography

Willem Adriaan/Adrian (Pete) Jurgens was born in what was then the Orange Free State on 29 June 1923. He was a mining engineer working at Pilgrim’s Rest when he met the author and artist Barbara Tyrrell. After their marriage in June 1950, he switched careers and became a cinematographer. He made a number of ethnographic documentaries on various ethnic groups like the Tsonga and the Venda. Together with Dick Wolff and W. Williams he shot T.V. Bulpin’s independent 1954 feature Flame of Africa, which told the story of Shaka Zulu, a film on which his wife was responsible for the historical research and the costumes.

He was also responsible for the photography for at least some of the episodes of the British television series By an African Camp Fire (Darcy Conyers/1956) and was cameraman for David Millin on his first feature Donker Afrika (1958), starring Al Debbo. With his own Irene-based company, Pete Jurgens Productions, he produced the documentary Mirror of our Past / Spieël van ons Verlede (1960) for the Simon van der Stel Foundation, which was directed by the heritage historian Dr. W. Punt. In addition he is said to have contributed footage to an early episode of the American television series Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, directed by Don Meier. Some reports claim that he filmed African adventure films on behalf of Warner Brothers, but we haven’t been able to confirm this.

He was a South African go-kart champion and on 17 March 1963 he had a heart attack while racing in Pretoria. He died on the way to the hospital. His wife outlived him by more than 50 years. She died in Fish Hoek on 23 September 2015 at the age of 103.