Walter Murch
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Biography
This acclaimed behind-the-scenes figure has enjoyed mutually beneficial long-term collaborations with filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola and USC film school classmate George Lucas. Skilled as both a film and sound editor, Murch played an important role in the creation of some of the signature films of the 1970s including "American Graffiti" (1973), "The Godfather, Part II" (1974) and "Apocalypse Now" (1979). Even after his ten-year association with American Zoetrope ended, Murch continued to work with Coppola and Lucas on later projects. Moreover, he has remained a leading technician in 90s Hollywood. His sound editing was central to the artistic success of Coppola's "The Conversation" (1974), an absorbing character study which ruminated expressively on the implications of high-tech eavesdropping and voyeurism. Murch earned an Oscar nod for his work on this modern classic. He won the coveted statuette for Best Sound with the hallucinatory aural design of the director's Vietnam epic, "Apocalypse Now" (1979). As a film editor, Murch garnered Oscar nominations for Fred Zinnemann's "Julia" (1977), "Apocalypse Now," Jerry Zucker's "Ghost" (1990) and "The Godfather, Part III" (also 1990). More recent credits include Zucker's Arthurian epic "First Knight" (1995) and Anthony Minghella's period romantic drama "The English Patient" (1996). For the latter, Murch performed double duty as editor and sound technician and became the first person to earn Oscars in both categories for the same film.
Murch has not limited himself to traditional theatrical films. Thousands of visitors to the Walt Disney theme parks saw his editing handiwork on "Captain Eo" (1986), a colorful sci-fi musical short in 3-D starring Michael Jackson and Anjelica Huston, produced by Lucas and directed by Coppola. Similarly, Murch served as film editor on "Call From Space" (1989), the first short film from Showscan Productions. Screened at a specially equipped theater in a French theme park, the film was shot in the patented Showscan process which photographs and projects 70mm film at 60 frames per second--faster, brighter, and larger than the feature film standard (35mm film at 24 frames per second).
Murch has also worked as a screenwriter, co-scripting (with the writer-director), as well as sound editing, Lucas' first feature "THX 1138." He made his debut as a writer-director with the poorly received "Return to Oz" (1985), a dark fantasy that eschewed recreating the tone of the 1939 MGM classic musical "The Wizard of Oz" in favor of L. Frank Baum's original stories. Reviewers were put off by the somber air, deliberate pacing and absence of musical numbers. Audiences generally steered clear.
Murch has distilled his knowledge and expertise in a book on film editing entitled "In the Blink of an Eye."
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Editing (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Sound (Feature Film)
Film Production - Main (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1968
First collaboration with Lucas, served as sound editor and contributed to screenplay of Lucas' sci-fi student short "The Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138: 4EB"
1969
First feature credit ("sound montage"), Coppola's "The Rain People"
1970
Served as one of the many sound people on "Gimme Shelter", the Maysles brothers' landmark document of the Rolling Stones fateful Altamont concert
1971
Feature screenwriting debut, co-wrote (with Lucas) script for "THX 1138" (Lucas' feature directorial debut), also received sound credit
1985
Feature debut as writer-director, "Return to Oz"
1988
Served as film editor on "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"
1990
Was a film editor and sound mixer for "The Godfather: Part III"; earned Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing
1990
Worked as film editor and sound mixer for the film "Ghost" earned Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing
1993
Worked as an editor and sound mixer on the film "Romeo Is Bleeding"
1995
Served as film editor and sound mixer for "First Knight"
1996
First collaboration with Anthony Minghella, served as editor and sound mixer for the Oscar winning film "The English Patient"
1999
Worked on the film "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
2003
Reteamed with Anthony Minghella for "Cold Mountain," served as film editor and sound mixer; earned Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing
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