[1] He was a regular collaborator of director John G. Avildsen, known for his work in Rocky and The Karate Kid, as well as other movies from the 1970s and 80s, like The China Syndrome, Night Shift, and Thank God It's Friday.
[2] He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for director John G. Avildsen's The Formula (1980).
He also photographed Avildsen's films Save the Tiger (1973), W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975), Rocky (1976), The Karate Kid (1984), The Karate Kid Part II (1986), Happy New Year (1987) and For Keeps (1988) as well as Thank God It's Friday (1978), The China Syndrome (1979), and Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985).
[1] He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie for The Letter (1982)[3] and was nominated for The Entertainer (1976), Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977) and his final film Baby M (1988).
[4] On May 2, 1989, James Crabe died at his home in Sherman Oaks, California, from complications of AIDS at the age of 57.