Bill Varney
Bill Varney | |
|---|---|
| Born | Harold William Varney January 22, 1934 |
| Died | April 2, 2011 (aged 77) |
| Occupation | Sound mixer |
| Years active | 1972–2011 |
| Spouse | Suzanne Varney (1 child) |
Harold William Varney (January 22, 1934 – April 2, 2011) was an American motion picture
Life and career
Varney was born on January 22, 1934, in Beverly, Massachusetts.[3]
One of Varney's earliest projects was a film focusing on singer Joan Baez during the 1950s.[3] Baez's father was a physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[3] Varney relocated to southern California in 1961, where he produced educational films for Encyclopædia Britannica.[3]
Varney transitioned to film and television
Varney won collaborative back-to-back
Varney's numerous film credits included The Last Waltz in 1978, Grease in 1978, Ordinary People in 1980, Poltergeist and My Favorite Year, both released in 1982, and Dragonheart in 1996.[3]
By 1998, he had risen to become the Vice President of Sound Operations for Universal Pictures.[3] That same year, Varney collaborated on the sound re-editing for the 1958 Orson Welles film, Touch of Evil.[3] Welles had been replaced from the film during its post-production, and was never allowed to cut Touch of Evil the way he had originally intended.[3] Rick Schmidlin produced the re-edit for Universal Pictures based on a 58-page lost memo written by Welles a year before the film was released.[3] Varney spearheaded the sound restoration for the 1998 directors cut re-release of Touch of Evil.[3] Varney used "digital processing to bring the 40-year-old soundtracks to a new level of clarity," according to Walter Murch, who worked as the sound editor and sound mixer for the 1998 re-release.[3]
Varney retired from Universal Studios in 2001 and moved to Fairhope, Alabama in 2003.[3]
Varney died on April 2, 2011, of
References
- ^ "The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
- ^ "The 54th Academy Awards (1982) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-10-08.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Nelson, Valerie J. (2011-04-07). "Bill Varney dies at 77; Oscar-winning sound mixer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- ^ "The 57th Academy Awards (1985) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
- ^ "The 58th Academy Awards (1986) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- ^ "Harold William (Bill) Varney". Press-Register. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
External links
- Bill Varney at IMDb
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