Elmo Williams obit

Elmo Williams, Oscar-Winning Film Editor on ‘High Noon,’ Dies at 102

 He received another nom for '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.' Olivia de Havilland is now the oldest living Academy Award winner.

He was not on the list.

Long-time Brookings resident and retired Hollywood film producer Elmo Williams died peacefully in his home at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday at the age of 102.

Williams, who slipped into unconsciousness on Friday, spent his final days surrounded by family and friends. They celebrated Thanksgiving on Tuesday, setting a plate for Elmo at the dinner table while he rested in his bed nearby. The dinner included some of Elmo's favorite food and the family toasted Elmo, raising a glass of his favorite wine.

“It was a very peaceful passing,” said Elmo’s adult daughter Stacy Williams.

A memorial for Elmo is scheduled for Dec. 12 at the Brookings Elks Lodge. The time of the event is high noon, a nod to the classic western movie High Noon, in which Elmo received an Academy Award as film editor.

Among the films that Williams edited are High Noon (1952), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and The Vikings (1958). Williams was involved in the production of The Longest Day (1962) and Cleopatra (1963), and he was a producer of the film Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). Between 1971 and 1974, Williams was the Head of Production for 20th Century Fox.

Williams edited the film Design for Death (1947), which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Williams won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for his work on 1952's High Noon (directed by Fred Zinnemann and co-edited with Harry W. Gerstad, although he was subordinate to Gerstad), and was nominated again for 1954's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (directed by Richard Fleischer).

High Noon was listed as the 54th best-edited film of all time in a 2012 survey of members of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, and the editing of High Noon is probably Williams' most studied accomplishment. Critic James Berardinelli wrote, "High Noon's tension comes through Kane's desperation, aided in no small part by Elmo Williams' brilliant editing as the clock ticks down to twelve. For a motion picture with so little action, the suspense builds to almost unbearable levels." In his memoir, Williams states that this well-known montage was specifically edited to match the music composed for the scene by Dimitri Tiomkin.

Williams was credited as associate producer and coordinator of battle episodes on The Longest Day (1962). He was also an uncredited second unit director. He later produced another historical World War II film Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), also for Darryl F. Zanuck.

Williams was elected to membership in the American Cinema Editors (ACE). In 1971, Williams was honored with the ACE "Golden Eddie" award as Filmmaker of the Year. In 1990, Williams received the ACE Career Achievement Award; he was among the first six editors to be honored as such.

On May 14, 2011, Williams featured in Slow Children's music video “Learn to Love”.

Williams was born in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. In 1940, he married Lorraine Williams, who died in 2004. They adopted two daughters and a son. The couple retired to Brookings, Oregon, on the Oregon Coast in 1983. In December 2008, Williams donated a public chapel to the city in memory of his wife. The chapel, named Capella By The Sea, is located in Azalea Park in Brookings.

Elmo's brother Burch Williams was killed in an accident when a biplane crashed into the helicopter Burch was in during the filming of aerial sequences for the 1971 film Zeppelin.

Editor

Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rex Harrison in Cleopatra (1963)

Cleopatra

7.0

Editor (uncredited)

1963

 

Peter Lorre, John Carradine, Jon Hall, and Roberta Haynes in Hell Ship Mutiny (1957)

Hell Ship Mutiny

4.5

Editor

1957

 

Brian Keith, Buddy Baer, Dick Kallman, Don Megowan, and Dale Robertson in Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)

Hell Canyon Outlaws

6.7

Editor

1957

 

Jim Davis and Beverly Michaels in Blonde Bait (1956)

Blonde Bait

5.4

Editor

1956

 

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

7.2

Editor (edited by)

1954

 

William Conrad, John Dehner, Lawrence Dobkin, Tex Ritter, and Elmo Williams in The Cowboy (1954)

The Cowboy

5.6

Editor

1954

 

Lloyd Bridges in The Tall Texan (1953)

The Tall Texan

6.2

Editor

1953

 

Sterling Hayden and Joan Leslie in Hellgate (1952)

Hellgate

6.4

Editor

1952

 

Gary Cooper, Lloyd Bridges, Lee Van Cleef, Katy Jurado, Ian MacDonald, Robert J. Wilke, and Sheb Wooley in High Noon (1952)

High Noon

7.9

Editor

1952

 

William Lundigan and Dorothy Patrick in Follow Me Quietly (1949)

Follow Me Quietly

6.5

Editor

1949

 

Priscilla Lane and Lawrence Tierney in Bodyguard (1948)

Bodyguard

6.5

Editor

1948

 

Frank Sinatra, Fred MacMurray, and Alida Valli in The Miracle of the Bells (1948)

The Miracle of the Bells

6.5

Editor

1948

 

Design for Death (1947)

Design for Death

5.9

Editor

1947

 

Boris Karloff, Ralph Byrd, and Anne Gwynne in Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome

6.1

film editor

1947

 

They Won't Believe Me (1947)

They Won't Believe Me

7.2

Editor

1947

 

Lynn Bari and George Raft in Nocturne (1946)

Nocturne

6.5

Editor

1946

 

We've Got Another Bond to Buy

Short

Editor

1945

 

Our Job in Japan

6.1

Short

Editor

1945

 

Know Your Enemy - Japan (1945)

Know Your Enemy - Japan

6.0

Editor (uncredited)

1945

 

Brian Aherne, Charles Laughton, Ray Milland, Herbert Marshall, Robert Cummings, Ida Lupino, Anna Neagle, and Merle Oberon in Forever and a Day (1943)

Forever and a Day

6.9

Editor (uncredited)

1943

 

Ray Bolger, Edward Everett Horton, John Carroll, and Anna Neagle in Sunny (1941)

Sunny

5.4

Editor

1941

 

Anna Neagle in No, No, Nanette (1940)

No, No, Nanette

5.2

Editor

1940

 

Ray Milland and Anna Neagle in Irene (1940)

Irene

6.3

Editor

1940

 

Anna Neagle in Nurse Edith Cavell (1939)

Nurse Edith Cavell

6.5

Editor

1939

 

Producer

Jim Varney in Ernest Goes to Camp (1987)

Ernest Goes to Camp

5.5

executive producer

1987

 

Man, Woman and Child (1983)

Man, Woman and Child

6.3

producer

1983

 

Don Johnson, Jack Elam, P.J. Soles, Anthony Zerbe, Ben Johnson, and Dub Taylor in Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. (1981)

Soggy Bottom, U.S.A.

5.3

producer

1981

 

Caravans (1978)

Caravans

5.9

producer

1978

 

Marjoe Gortner, Susan Howard, and Michael Parks in Sidewinder 1 (1977)

Sidewinder 1

6.0

producer

1977

 

Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten, Jason Robards, E.G. Marshall, Tatsuya Mihashi, Koreya Senda, Takahiro Tamura, Eijirô Tôno, James Whitmore, and Sô Yamamura in Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

Tora! Tora! Tora!

7.5

producer

1970

 

The Blue Max (1966)

The Blue Max

7.1

executive producer

1966

 

Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison in The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)

The Agony and the Ecstasy

7.2

executive producer (uncredited)

1965

 

Richard Burton, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, John Wayne, Sean Connery, Sal Mineo, Eddie Albert, Richard Beymer, Red Buttons, Jeffrey Hunter, Roddy McDowall, Rod Steiger, Robert Wagner, Paul Anka, Arletty, Mel Ferrer, Steve Forrest, Gert Fröbe, Fabian, Jean-Louis Barrault, Bourvil, Ray Danton, Irina Demick, Leo Genn, Henry Grace, John Gregson, Paul Hartmann, Werner Hinz, Curd Jürgens, Alexander Knox, Peter Lawford, Christian Marquand, Kenneth More, Edmond O'Brien, Ron Randell, Madeleine Renaud, Robert Ryan, Tommy Sands, Richard Todd, Tom Tryon, Peter van Eyck, and Stuart Whitman in The Longest Day (1962)

The Longest Day

7.7

associate producer

1962

 

Tales of the Vikings (1959)

Tales of the Vikings

8.0

TV Series

associate producer

1959–1960

3 episodes

 

William Conrad, John Dehner, Lawrence Dobkin, Tex Ritter, and Elmo Williams in The Cowboy (1954)

The Cowboy

5.6

co-producer

1954

 

College Capers (1953)

College Capers

5.3

Short

producer

1953

 

Bozo's Circus

TV Series

producer

1951

1 episode

 

Director

Stephen Boyd, Juliette Gréco, and David Wayne in The Big Gamble (1961)

The Big Gamble

5.8

Director (African action sequences)

1961

 

Tales of the Vikings (1959)

Tales of the Vikings

8.0

TV Series

Director

1959

2 episodes

 

Peter Lorre, John Carradine, Jon Hall, and Roberta Haynes in Hell Ship Mutiny (1957)

Hell Ship Mutiny

4.5

Director

1957

 

Jim Davis, Keith Larsen, and Eugenia Paul in Apache Warrior (1957)

Apache Warrior

5.2

Director

1957

 

Jim Davis and Beverly Michaels in Blonde Bait (1956)

Blonde Bait

5.4

Director

1956

 

Elmo Williams in Women Without Men (1956)

Women Without Men

5.8

Director

1956

 

William Conrad, John Dehner, Lawrence Dobkin, Tex Ritter, and Elmo Williams in The Cowboy (1954)

The Cowboy

5.6

Director

1954

 

College Capers (1953)

College Capers

5.3

Short

Director

1953

 

Lloyd Bridges in The Tall Texan (1953)

The Tall Texan

6.2

Director

1953

 

Bozo's Circus

TV Series

Director

1951

1 episode