Walter Murch

Walter Murch has been editing sound in Hollywood since starting on Francis Ford Coppola's film Les gens de la pluie (1969). He edited sound on American Graffiti (1973) and Le Parrain, 2ᵉ partie (1974), won his first Academy Award nomination for Conversation secrète (1974), won his first Oscar for Apocalypse Now (1979), and won an unprecedented double Oscar for Best Sound and Best Film Editing for his work on Le patient anglais (1996). Most recently he helped reconstruct La Soif du mal (1958) to Orson Welles' original notes, and edited Le talentueux Mr. Ripley (1999). Mr. Murch was, along with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, a founding member of northern California cinema. Mr. Murch has directed --Oz: Un monde extraordinaire (1985) -- and longs to do so again, but as an editor and sound man he is one of the few universally acknowledged masters in his field. For his work on the film "Apocalypse Now (1979)", Walter coined the term "sound designer", and along with colleagues such as Ben Burtt, helped to elevate the art and impact of film sound to a new level.