Professional Motion Picture Production and Distribution NEWS

Memorial Services

Herbert E. Farmer
31 March 1920 - 22 November 2009

Saturday, 6 February 2010 @ 2:00 p.m.
The Norris Theater on the USC campus.
Reception to follow in the lobby of the new School of Cinematic Arts Building.

In lieu of flowers, contributions to "The Bea and Herbert E. Farmer Endowed Fund" for Support of the School of Cinematic Arts Archive can be sent to: USC School of Cinematic Arts, University Park, SCA 465, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2211.

NOVEMBER 24, 2009 | USC Cinematic Arts Website
In Memoriam: Herb Farmer
A Trojan For Over 70 Years

A Memorial Service has been confirmed:
Saturday, February 6 at 2:00 pm at The Norris Theater on the USC campus
Reception immediately following.

Dr. Herbert Farmer, archivist, emeritus professor and SCA alumnus.

Dr. Herbert Farmer, archivist, emeritus professor and SCA alumnus, passed away Sunday, November 22. He was 89 years old.

"Herb was an absolutely essential part of the School of Cinematic Arts, and it’s difficult to imagine him not being here," said Dean Elizabeth M. Daley. "His devotion to the university, the school and the generations of students he instructed and inspired, is matchless. I am proud to have had him as a colleague and a friend."

After making a cross-country trip from Buffalo, New York, Farmer began classes at USC in 1938, also finding time to produce the Trojan Newsreel, shoot football coaching films and surgical motion pictures for the university, and play sousaphone in the marching band.

A few months shy of his graduation in 1942, Farmer took over teaching a motion picture history class from a professor who had been called to active duty in World War II. Farmer, who also served in the war, returned in 1946 to USC and began teaching classes in basic film technology and distribution. He had been involved with the university ever since. He earned his master’s degree in Cinema from USC in 1954.

At the time of his death, Farmer was still dedicated to overseeing his extensive archive of historical films and equipment ranging from zoetropes to the soundboard from The Jazz Singer, which he had gifted to the university. These materials are part of a rotating collection that is regularly put on display.

Farmer’s son, Jim Farmer, also a Trojan, often accompanied his father on his trips to the university. "As we would go through the new building, the words would always be the same: ‘Incredible’, ‘beautiful’, ‘wow’, ‘unbelievable’, ‘fantastic’, ‘I wish I could go back to school - I'd have so much fun.’"

At a September 2008 celebration of Farmer’s 70 years of ongoing service to the university, Farmer spoke warmly about his time as a Trojan. "It’s been a wonderful life working with students here at the school," he told the audience. "I’m grateful for the time that I’ve been able to put into it. And I’d do it again if I had to or could.

Farmer is survived by his son, his former daughter-in-law, Michele Himmelberg Farmer and granddaughters Casey and Lindsey, a senior SCA production major. His wife of 62 years, Beatrice Feickert Farmer, passed away in January 2009.

Contributions to "The Bea and Herbert E. Farmer Endowed Fund" for Support of the School of Cinematic Arts Archive can be sent to: USC School of Cinematic Arts, University Park, SCA 465, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2211.

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OBITUARY - LOS ANGELES TIMES

Herb Farmer dies at 89; USC film professor filmed football games at the Coliseum His ties to the university date back to 1938, when he entered as a cinema student.

By Keith Thursby / Los Angeles Times / November 27, 2009

Herb Farmer, whose career at USC included filming football games from the roof of the Coliseum press box, overseeing the school's film archives and serving as a professor and associate dean of the School of Cinematic Arts, has died. He was 89.

Farmer died in his sleep Sunday at his home in Westchester, said his son, Jim.

"Herb was an absolutely essential part of the School of Cinematic Arts, and it's difficult to imagine him not being here," Dean Elizabeth M. Daley said in a statement. "His devotion to the university, the school and the generations of students he instructed and inspired is matchless."

Herbert Emerson Farmer was born March 31, 1920, in Buffalo, N.Y. He entered USC as a cinema student in 1938, participating in the Trojan Newsreel, student films that showed life on campus. He started taking football films as a student, his son said.

Farmer was within months of graduating in 1942 when he was asked to take over teaching a motion picture history class from a professor who had been called to serve in World War II.

"The biggest problem in 1942 was keeping things going on campus," Farmer told the Daily Trojan in 2001. By 1943, he said, USC was "training pre-flight cadets for the Army and Navy on campus. There were 600 cadets that were here for training at one time."

Farmer, who served in the Navy during World War II, returned to USC in 1946 and began teaching. He received his master's degree in cinema from USC in 1954.

"When Herb arrived here . . . he was a pretty big man on campus because he had a camera and the school didn't," Doug Wellman, the film school's director of facilities and operations, said in 2008.

"Herb brought this camera with him across country, and it became the official camera of USC cinema. And as Herb taught here and was a student here, he modified this camera. He added the 400-foot magazine. He added a motor drive. He added a variety of lenses . . . and he constantly improved it. And that is exactly what Herb has done for this entire school.

"Former USC assistant football coach Craig Fertig used to tell the story of when he was hired at USC and was told he also would be the "film coach," Farmer's son said. Fertig asked what the job included and head coach John McKay told him to call Herb Farmer. "He showed him how to splice film together and the other things he needed to know," Jim Farmer said.

"He was so good at problem-solving," Jim Farmer said. "He loved to get on his hands and knees and fix things.”

"Farmer retired in 1991, but he continued as archivist of the school's films and equipment, which include the soundboard from the 1927 film "The Jazz Singer" and decades of USC football coaching films.

In addition to his son, Farmer is survived by two grandchildren, Casey and Lindsey. His wife of 62 years, Beatrice Feickert Farmer, died in January.

Contributions to "The Bea and Herbert E. Farmer Endowed Fund" for Support of the School of Cinematic Arts Archive can be sent to: USC School of Cinematic Arts, University Park, SCA 465, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2211.

keith [ dot ] thursby [ at ] latimes [ dot ] com / latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-herb-farmer27-2009nov27,0,4087476.story