Conrad Wells (1892 New York, New York – January 2, 1930 Santa Monica, California) American cinematographer and editor.He began his film career as a camera assistant, becoming a full cameraman in 1919. He specialized in outdoor cinematography often on Westerns and action-adventure films. Conrad Wells was born as Abraham Fried but began using "Conrad Wells" in 1927.On January 2, 1930 while filming aerial scenes for the film Such Men Are Dangerous he was killed in a tragic plane crash over the Pacific Ocean along with 9 others: pilot Walter Ross Cook, cameraman George Eastman, assistant director Ben Frankel, assistant director Max Gold, Tom Harris, Harry Johannes, Otto Jordon, director Kenneth Hawks, and pilot Halleck Rouse. The planes that crashed into each other were identical Stinson SM-1F Detroiters, sun glare was listed as probable cause.He is buried at the Home of Peace Memorial Park in East Los Angeles, California.
Four Hollywood cameramen - George Eastman, Otto Jordan, Conrad Wells and Ben Frankel - were killed on the same day, making the same movie, when their camera planes collided and fell into the Pacific Ocean off the Southern California coast while filming "Such Men Are Dangerous". Six others, including the film's director, were also killed.