Bill Varney

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harold William "Bill" Varney (born January 22, 1934 in Beverly , Massachusetts , † April 2, 2011 in Fairhope , Alabama ) was an American sound engineer for films. Varney won Oscars for Best Sound in The Empire Strikes Back  (1980) and Raiders of the Lost Ark  (1981). He also received Oscar nominations for The Desert Planet  (1984) and Back to the Future  (1985).

life and career

One of Varney's first projects was a film about singer Joan Baez in the 1950s. In 1961 Varney moved to Southern California , where he produced educational films for the Encyclopædia Britannica . In 1972, Varney went to The Samuel Goldwyn Company to mix sound for film and television . There he received an Emmy nomination in 1977 for his work on the miniseries Roots . In addition to numerous films such as The Band , Grease  (both 1978), Einevery normal Family  (1980), Poltergeist or A Daredevil in New York  (both 1982), the Oscar-winning films The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark as well as The Desert planet .

In 1985, Varney moved to Universal Pictures , where he again received an Oscar nomination in 1986 for Back to the Future . By the mid-1990s, Varney was involved in about 85 film productions; his last film was Dragonheart in 1996 . In 1998, Varney became Vice President of Sound Operations at Universal. In the same year, Varney was involved in the restoration of the Orson Welles film In the Signs of Evil . Varney left Universal in 2001 and moved to Fairhope , Alabama in 2003 . Varney died there in 2011 of heart failure at the age of 77.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Valerie J. Nelson: Bill Varney dies at 77; Oscar-winning sound mixer . In: Los Angeles Times , April 7, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2011. 
  2. ^ The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) Nominees and Winners . In: oscars.org . Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  3. ^ The 54th Academy Awards (1982) Nominees and Winners . In: oscars.org . Retrieved October 8, 2011.
  4. ^ The 57th Academy Awards (1985) Nominees and Winners . In: oscars.org . Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  5. ↑ Harold William (Bill) Varney . Press register. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved on April 9, 2011.
personal data
SURNAME Varney, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Varney, Harold William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American sound engineer for the film
DATE OF BIRTH January 22, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Beverly , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH April 2, 2011
Place of death Fairhope , Alabama