Nicholas Clapp (May 1, 1936 – July 30, 2025) was an American filmmaker, writer and amateur archaeologist who was called "a modern day Indiana Jones". He received 70 film awards (including Emmys), and the University of Southern California film school, and worked for Disney, the National Geographic Society, Columbia Pictures, PBS and the White House.

Personal life and death

Clapp was born on May 1, 1936, in Providence, Rhode Island. He was married to Bonnie Loizos, with whom he had two daughters, Jennifer and Cristina. He died after a stroke on July 30, 2025, at the age of 89.

Books

Films

  • The Yanks Are Coming (1963)
  • Let My People Go: The Story of Israel (1965)
  • The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau (2 episodes, 1968)
  • The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1968 TV Movie)
  • Journey to the Outer Limits (1973)
  • National Geographic Specials: The Haunted West (1973), The Great Mojave Desert (1975)
  • The Incredible Machine (1975)
  • The Lost City of Arabia (1996), PBS/NOVA

References

  • Noble Wilford, John (5 February 1992) ”On the Trail From the Sky: Roads Point to a Lost City”, New York Times
  • Ostling, Richard (17 February 1992) Archaeology: Arabia’s Lost Sand Castle, Time
  • (Winter 1992) Space Technology Helps Find Fabled City, Caltech
  • Aspaturlan, Heidi (April 1992) The Road to Ubar, Caltech News
  • Clapp, Nicholas (1 January 1993) “Finding the Lost City,” NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • Clapp, Nicholas (8 October 1996) “Lost City of Arabia,” PBS/NOVA transcript
  • Bogaev, Barbara (21 April 1998) Documentary Filmmaker Nicholas Clapp Fresh Air, NPR