Bud S. Smith obit

Bud S. Smith, Editor of ‘Sorcerer,’ ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘Flashdance,’ Dies at 88

 

He was not on the list.

Bud S. Smith, an Oscar-nominated film editor who was a regular collaborator with William Friedkin and whose other credits include “Putney Swope,” “Flashdance” and “The Karate Kid,” died Sunday at his home in Studio City, Calif. due to respiratory failure after a prolonged illness. He was 88.

Smith’s death was confirmed by his wife, dialogue editor Lucy Coldsnow-Smith.

Over a career spanning five decades, Smith was a two-time Academy Award nominee: in 1984 for Adrian Lyne’s romance fantasia “Flashdance,” and in 1974 for William Friedkin’s horror classic “The Exorcist,” which Smith shared a nomination for with Evan A. Lottman and Norman Gay. Smith won the BAFTA award for best editing for “Flashdance” and received a career achievement award from American Cinema Editors in 2008.

After beginning in television and working under David L. Wolper in the ’60s, Smith’s first feature editing credit came at the end of the decade with Robert Downey, Sr.’s seminal satire “Putney Swope.” Smith worked with Downey on several of his early experimental films.

Smith was the primary editor for the Iraq sequences that open “The Exorcist” — a job that began a regular collaborative partnership with director Friedkin. Smith edited his 1985 crime film “To Live and Die in L.A.,” along with its borderline hallucinatory car chase showstopper, as well as the director’s 1977 survival thriller “Sorcerer,” celebrated for its sustained tension in its depiction of four truckers transporting a load of explosives in South America.

Other notable editing credits include Friedkin’s “Cruising,” the Sam Raimi breakout “Darkman,” Robert Towne’s production woe-laden “Personal Best” and the horror sequel “Poltergeist II: The Other Side.” In the ’90s, Smith worked as a film doctor and consultant, most often on the slate at Universal Pictures under exec Casey Silver.

Smith was also an associate producer on “Sorcerer” and “The Karate Kid”; he was a co-producer on “To Live and Die in L.A.” and on the 1999 sci-fi thriller “Virus.” He directed the 1988 high school football comedy “Johnny Be Good,” starring Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey Jr., the son of Smith’s earliest artistic collaborator.

Born on Dec. 6, 1935 in Tulsa, Okla., Smith’s first credit in the industry came in 1965 for the TV film “The Bold Men.” He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2012.

He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Lucy.

 

Year     Film            Film Editor            Producer         director            Other            Notes

1969    Putney Swope Yes                                         

1970    Pound            Yes                                         

1972            Greaser's Palace            Yes                                         

1973            Deadhead Miles            Yes                                          with Danford B. Greene

The Exorcist            Yes                                          with Evan A. Lottman & Norman Gay

Nominated - Academy Award for Best Film Editing

 

Sticks and Bones   Yes                                          Television film

1974            Rhinoceros      Yes                                         

1977            Sorcerer           Yes            Yes                              Also associate producer & second unit director

with Robert K. Lambert

1978    The Brink's Job            Yes                             

A Death in Canaan Yes                                         

1980            Cruising          Yes                                         

Falling in Love Again   Yes                                          with Jacqueline Cambas & Doug Jackson

1981    Zoot Suit      Yes                                          with Jacqueline Cambas

1982    Cat People  Yes                              Yes            Also second unit director

with Jacqueline Cambas

Personal Best            Yes                                          with Jacqueline Cambas, Doug Jackson,

Jere Huggins, Ned Humphreys & Walt Mulconery

1983            Flashdance       Yes                                          with Walt Mulconery

BAFTA Award for Best Editing

Nominated - Academy Award for Best Film Editing

Deal of the Century            Yes                                          with Jere Huggins & Ned Humphreys

1984    The Karate Kid            Yes            Yes                              Also associate producer

with Walt Mulconery & John G. Avildsen

1985    To Live and Die in L.A.            Yes            Yes                  Yes            Also co-producer & second unit director

with M. Scott Smith

1986            Poltergeist II: The Other Side            Yes                                          with Thom Noble & M. Scott Smith

C.A.T. Squad            Yes            Yes                              Television film

Also co-producer & second unit director

1987    Some Kind of Wonderful            Yes                                          with M. Scott Smith

1988    Johnny Be Good                                  Yes     

1989    Sing            Yes                                          with Jere Huggins & M. Scott Smith

Listen to Me            Yes                                          with Anne V. Coates

Gross Anatomy            Yes                                          with M. Scott Smith

1990            Darkman         Yes                                          with David Stiven

1992    Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot                                            2nd unit           

1999    Virus                Co-producer                      2nd Unit     

2000    The Replacements            Yes                                          with Seth Flaum

Christina's House                                      Yes            As post-production advisor

2003    The Young Black Stallion Yes                                          with Terry Blythe

2004    Ladder 49        Yes                                          with M. Scott Smith

2005    The Game of Their Lives    Yes                                          with Ian Crafford, Lee Grubin,

Jeff Williams & M. Scott Smith

2006            Driftwood                    Yes                  Yes            Also second unit director

2008    Lonely Street               Co-producer                                 

2009    G-Force                                       Yes     

The Mighty Macs                Exexutive                                

2013    Alone yet Not Alone               Executive