William Austin (film editor)

William Austin
Born	William Nelson Austin (1903-01-28)January 28, 1903 Los Angeles, California , U.S.
Occupation	Film editor

William Nelson Austin (January 28, 1903 – December 28, 1993) was a Canadian-American

Career

"Bill" Austin began his career in 1928 as a freelance film editor, usually working for independent producers of westerns. One of his frequent employers was the notoriously low-budget filmmaker Robert J. Horner.

Austin's fortunes improved in 1936 when his native Canada passed a quota law, requiring that a percentage of motion pictures released in Canada must include Canadian personnel. Columbia Pictures complied with this requirement by sending Canadian-born crew members to studios north of the border. Austin's first editorial assignment was Secret Patrol, a Charles Starrett outdoor adventure. Austin remained in Canada for Columbia-sponsored projects through 1939, when the quota arrangement lapsed.

He resumed his career in Hollywood at the low-budget

, Austin remained with the company and edited dozens more features through 1964.

Austin also worked in television, as staff editor for The Abbott and Costello Show, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Ben Casey, and Tarzan. He retired at age 65, after the Tarzan series, but returned to edit a low-budget outdoor adventure, Legend of the Northwest, in 1978.

William Austin died on December 28, 1993, in

Selected filmography

• Flat Top (1952)
• Sabu and the Magic Ring (1957)

References

External links

• William Austin at
  IMDb