Abraham Zapruder Filmed JFK Murder
Dallas Businessman Captured John F. Kennedy Assassination on Movie
The famous Zapruder film is synonymous with the JFK assassination. Abraham Zapruder was the man behind the camera -- the Dallas clothing manufacturer who went to Dealey Plaza on that fateful fall day in 1963 and made history as he recorded President John F. Kennedy's murder in 8mm horror.
Zapruder Born in Ukraine
Of Russian-Jewish extraction, Abraham Zapruder was born in Kovel, Ukraine, on May 15, 1905. Zapruder's education was severely limited, as he completed only four years of schooling in Russia.
In 1920, amidst the chaos of the Russian Revolution, Zapruder and his family emigrated to the United States. Now calling Brooklyn, New York, their home, Zapruder went to work in Manhattan's garment district as a pattern maker.
In 1933, Zapruder and his wife Lillian married, with the union producing two children.
Move to Dallas
Zapruder and his family moved to Dallas in 1941 where he began work for sportswear company Nardis. In 1954, Zapruder co-founded Jennifer Juniors, Inc., a specialty clothing firm that marketed the brands Chalet and Jennifer Juniors.
Zapruder's offices were located on the fourth floor of the Dal-Tex Building in Dallas.
Abraham Zapruder Purchases His Camera
In 1962, Abraham Zapruder purchased a Model 414 PD 8mm Bell & Howell Zoomatic Director Series home movie camera. Along with that purchase came a load of Kodak Kodachrome II safety film.
Zapruder's Date with Desitny
A Democrat and an admirer of President Kennedy, Zapruder noted that JFK's motorcade would be passing through Dealey Plaza about a block from his office. Not wanting to miss the President, Zapruder made plans to see Kennedy in person -- but without his camera.
When asked by his secretary, Lillian Rogers, where his camera was, Zapruder replied that he had left it at home. "Mr. Z, you march right back there," she admonished. "How many times will you have a crack at color movies of the President?"
Sheepishly, Zapruder complied, returning in plenty of time to catch the President's visit.
Zapruder in Dealey Plaza
Now situated on a four-foot high pedestal just north of Elm Street with his movie camera in hand, Zapruder stood, waiting for the President. Accompanying him was his 23-year-old receptionist, Marilyn Sitzman, who helped steady her boss as he gazed through the camera's view finder.
At 12:30 PM Central Standard Time, shots rang out in Dealey Plaza. With his camera trained on the President's passing open-air limousine, Zapruder caught the stilted look on Kennedy's face as the big Lincoln reappeared from behind a freeway sign. Zapruder had thought: Is the President making a joke?
As Zapruder continued to film, it became apparent that Kennedy wasn't joking. Zapruder, the reluctant videographer, had caught the assassination on film, including the horrific shot in which the President's head explodes in a bloody mist of pink and gore.
Zapruder's Film Sold to Life Magazine
Zapruder's home movie -- comprised of six feet of film, 486 frames and lasting 26.6 seconds -- was later sold to Life magazine for $150,000. In time, the Zapruder film, as it infamously became known, was viewed, studied and dissected like no other movie in history.
Nightmares and Death
"They killed him! They killed him!" Abraham Zapruder cried over and over that day, something which became part of the recurring nightmares he later experienced through the years. Traumatized by what he had seen and filmed, Zapruder never picked up a movie camera again.
Abraham Zapruder died of a malignant brain tumor in Dallas, Texas, on August 30, 1970.
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