Joe Epperson, a three-time Emmy-nominated camera operator who worked on all eight seasons of ABC’s beloved sitcom Full House, has died.
His wife, Patty Epperson, told The Hollywood Reporter that Epperson died of cardiac arrest at Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, on Saturday. He was 80.
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Born in Camden, New Jersey on February 9, 1945 and raised in Berea, Ohio, Epperson, who served a 1966-69 tour with the U.S. Army, began his show business career at Cleveland TV stations WEWS and WUAB-TV. He later relocated to Pittsburgh, where he worked with Television Production Co., before he moved to Los Angeles in 1975 and worked at KTTV.
Once in Hollywood, Epperson expanded his camerawork to TV specials and concerts starring Paul Simon, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Big Bird, The Chicks, Black Sabbath, The Rolling Stones, and Elton John, among others, his first being 1976’s On Location: Freddie Prinze and Friends, per his IMDb profile. He received his first Primetime Emmy nomination in 1982 for concert special from Rod Stewart, and picked up two additional nominations in 1983 and 2000 for concert specials from Sheena Easton and Cher.
Epperson is also credited with helping to bring several beloved TV shows to life, perhaps most notably Full House. The ABC sitcom, starring the late Bob Saget, John Stamos, Dave Coulier, Candace Bure, Jodie Sweetin, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Ashley Olsen, ran for eight seasons from 1987 until 1995, Epperson operating the camera on all of those. He also operated cameras on All in the Family from 1975 to 1979, The Jeffersons from 1976 to 1982, The Pee-wee Herman Show in 1981, and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992 until 2014.
His other credits include Married…With Children, Standing Room Only, Family Ties, Day by Day, In Living Color, Sister, Sister, Big Brother, and The X-Factor. His last camera operating credit came in 2014 on Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me.
Epperson was a charter member of the Society of Camera Operators, a member of the organization’s board of directors, and a 1995 recipient of its lifetime achievement award. During his time in Hollywood, he also served as a technical director, stage manager, assistant director, and lighting director.
According to THR, Epperson suffered a burst appendix in late April and had been in and out of the hospital and rehab ever since. He is survived by Patty, his wife of 58 years, as well as their daughters, Amanda and Rebecca, and their grandchildren, Jaquelyn, Kirsten, Isabella, and Joseph.