Thomas Stanford obit

Thomas Stanford, Oscar-Winning Film Editor on ‘West Side Story,’ Dies at 93

He also worked on features including 'Suddenly, Last Summer, 'Hell in the Pacific' and 'Jeremiah Johnson.' 

He was not on the list.

Film editor Thomas Stanford, who won an Academy Award for his work on West Side Story, died Saturday, his family reported. He was 93.

Stanford collaborated with director Sydney Pollack on three films — The Slender Thread (1965), Jeremiah Johnson (1972) and The Yakuza (1974) — and with helmer Mark Rydell on two: The Fox (1967) and The Reivers (1969).

Born in Germany and educated in Switzerland and England, Stanford received his first editor credit on Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Suddenly, Last Summer (1959).

He later worked on movies including In the Cool of the Day (1963), Emil and the Detectives (1964), The Truth About Spring (1965), Don’t Make Waves (1967), Hell in the Pacific (1968), The Steagle (1971), The Onion Field (1979), The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981) and Split Decisions (1988).

Presenters Angie Dickinson and Rod Taylor announced Stanford’s Oscar triumph at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in April 1962.

Stanford had lived since 1987 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, his family said. Survivors include his partner Sherry Bendickson, his daughter Nina, her husband Brendt and their children Julian and Denis, and his son Adam and wife Lyn.

In addition to film editing, West Side Story (1961) won in nine other Oscar categories: best picture (Robert Wise), director (Wise and Jerome Robbins), supporting actress (Rita Moreno), supporting actor (George Chakiris), color cinematography (Daniel Fapp), color art direction/set decoration (Boris Leven, Victor Gangelin), color costume design (Irene Sharaff), sound (Fred Hynes and Gordon Sawyer) and music (Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal).

The lone West Side Story nominee who did not prevail was Ernest Lehman, who lost out to Abby Mann (Judgment at Nuremberg) for the adapted screenplay prize.

 

Editor

Gene Hackman, Craig Sheffer, and Eddie Velez in Split Decisions (1988)

Split Decisions

5.2

Editor

1988

 

Born to Race (1988)

Born to Race

4.1

Editor

1988

 

Klinton Spilsbury in The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981)

The Legend of the Lone Ranger

5.0

Editor

1981

 

Pacific High (1980)

Pacific High

Editor

1980

 

Before and After (1979)

Before and After

6.0

TV Movie

Editor

1979

 

The Onion Field (1979)

The Onion Field

6.8

Editor (uncredited)

1979

 

Brad Dourif in Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force (1978)

Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force

7.2

TV Movie

Editor

1978

 

Mad Bull (1977)

Mad Bull

5.8

TV Movie

Editor

1977

 

The Yakuza (1974)

The Yakuza

7.2

Editor

1974

 

The Yanks Are Coming

TV Movie

Editor

1974

 

Hec Ramsey (1972)

Hec Ramsey

7.7

TV Series

Editor

1972–1973

2 episodes

 

Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

Jeremiah Johnson

7.6

film editor

1972

 

The Steagle (1971)

The Steagle

5.1

Editor

1971

 

Steve McQueen in The Reivers (1969)

The Reivers

6.6

Editor

1969

 

John Boorman, Lee Marvin, and Toshirô Mifune in Hell in the Pacific (1968)

Hell in the Pacific

7.2

Editor

1968

 

The Fox (1967)

The Fox

6.5

Editor

1967

 

Tony Curtis, Claudia Cardinale, and Sharon Tate in Don't Make Waves (1967)

Don't Make Waves

5.8

Editor

1967

 

Walt Disney in The Magical World of Disney (1954)

The Magical World of Disney

8.3

TV Series

Editor

1966

2 episodes

 

Burke's Law (1963)

Burke's Law

7.3

TV Series

Editor

1966

2 episodes

 

Anne Bancroft and Sidney Poitier in The Slender Thread (1965)

The Slender Thread

7.0

Editor

1965

 

Hayley Mills and James MacArthur in The Truth About Spring (1965)

The Truth About Spring

6.4

Editor

1965

 

Emil and the Detectives (1964)

Emil and the Detectives

6.1

film editor

1964

 

In the Cool of the Day (1963)

In the Cool of the Day

5.1

Editor

1963

 

"West Side Story" (Saul Bass Poster) 1961

West Side Story

7.6

film editor

1961

 

George Maharis and Martin Milner in Route 66 (1960)

Route 66

7.7

TV Series

Editor (as Thomas G. Stanford)

1960

1 episode

 

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

Suddenly, Last Summer

7.5

Editor (as Thomas G. Stanford)

1959

 

Editorial Department

Saving Grace (1986)

Saving Grace

7.0

additional editor

1986

 

The Crazy World of Laurel and Hardy (1966)

The Crazy World of Laurel and Hardy

6.7

supervising editor

1966

 

Mozart's Don Giovanni (1955)

Mozart's Don Giovanni

8.9

TV Movie

assistant editor

1955