John Merritt
John Merritt (born June 9, 1920 in London as John Stafford Merritt , † July 6, 1999 in Bristol , Gloucestershire ) was a British film editor who oversaw the film editing for various cinema, television and documentary productions . These included classics from modern cinema such as Zardoz and Excalibur .
life and career
John Merritt was born in 1920 to Agnes Irene Chavasse (1893–1981) and George Merritt in St Pancras, London. His parents had married a year earlier in Lambeth, Surrey.
Merritt began his career as an editor in the late 1940s, overseeing various short films such as Mrs. Worth Goes to Westminster (1949) and Road Sense (1951). He made his debut as editor for British cinema in 1956 with the fantasy film The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp by director Alan Bromly. Felix Aylmer and Diane Cilento played the leading roles .
In the 1950s and 1960s, Merritt was mainly active as an editor for British television, including the documentary series Look , In View , Citizen 63 , The Newcomers and Sunday Night . For the TV documentary series Ten Years On , he was responsible for an episode as director and screenwriter himself in 1973.
In 1974, director John Boorman hired him for his science fiction film production Zardoz with Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling in the lead roles, after Boorman and Merritt had worked together on the half-hour short documentary Six Days to Saturday (1963) around ten years earlier .
A year later he edited the television drama A Secret Place for John King . In the late 1970s, Merritt was the editor of In Deepest Britain (1978) and The Lively Arts (1979) episodes of two other English TV series.
In 1981 John Merritt worked again for director John Boorman as editor for his fantasy epic Excalibur with the cast of Nigel Terry , Helen Mirren and Nicholas Clay . After this film, Merritt ended his film and television career. He died in Bristol on July 6, 1999 at the age of 79.
John Merritt was married twice. In 1950 he married Maria Hopkinson and in 1955 Jean M. Hodges.
Filmography (selection)
movie theater
watch TV
- 1958–1959: Look (television documentary series, 3 episodes)
- 1962: In View (TV documentary series, 1 episode)
- 1963: Citizen 63 (television documentary series, 5 episodes)
- 1964: The Newcomers (television documentary series)
- 1966: Sunday Night (TV documentary series, 1 episode)
- 1974: A Secret Place (TV movie)
- 1978: In Deepest Britain (TV documentary series, 1 episode)
- 1979: The Lively Arts (TV series, 1 episode)
Short films
- 1949: Mrs. Worth Goes to Westminster (short film)
- 1951: Road Sense (short documentary film)
- 1963: Six Days to Saturday (short documentary film)
literature
- John Merritt. In: David Pecchia: Cinematographers, Production Designers, Costume Designers and Film Editor's Guide. , Lone Eagle, 1991, p. 515
Web links
- John Merritt in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Filmography by John Merritt in: The New York Times
- Films by John Merritt with German distribution titles
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Merritt. In: John Boorman: Adventures of a Suburban Boy. , Macmillan, 2004
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Merritt, John |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Merritt, John Stafford (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British film editor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 9, 1920 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London , England |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 6, 1999 |
| Place of death | Bristol , Gloucestershire , England |