Richard Marks obit

Richard Marks, ‘Apocalypse Now,’ ‘Terms of Endearment’ Editor, Dies at 75

 He was not on the list.

Richard Marks, an Oscar-nominated film editor for “Apocalypse Now,” best picture winner “Terms of Endearment,” “Broadcast News,” and “As Good as It Gets,” died unexpectedly on Dec. 31 in New York City, his widow, film editor Barbara Marks, confirmed to Variety. He was 75.

His other editing credits include “The Godfather: Part II,” “You’ve Got Mail,” “Julie & Julia,” “Serpico,” “Dick Tracy,” “Riding in Cars With Boys,” “Bang the Drum Slowly,” “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “Pretty in Pink,” and “Father of the Bride.” Marks was a producer on “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “What Planet Are You From?,” and “Pennies From Heaven.”

Marks was born on Nov. 10, 1943, in New York. He married his wife Barbara in 1967. Marks became an assistant editor on Francis Ford Coppola’s “Rain People” in 1969, then worked with Dede Allen on “Alice’s Restaurant” and “Little Big Man” in 1970. He became her co-editor on “Serpico.”

Marks received a career achievement award from the American Cinema Editors in 2013. He told Variety at the time that there was no “romantic story” about him starting in show business.

“I was running film cans around New York,” he said. “People would order 600 prints of a commercial, and part of my job was to screen them and ship them out. It was grueling, and low pay.”

ACE president Alan Heim said at the time that one of Marks’ most iconic sequences is in “Broadcast News,” when Joan Cusack’s character delivers a tape.

“She’s got to dive under people and jump over people,” Heim recalled. “It’s a chase scene, but it’s a comic chase scene. A couple of frames make a difference. It’s an incomparable piece of kinetic editing.”

Marks said in the interview that the chance to tinker with such details is part of the appeal of his craft: “The thing that attracted me to editing is the feeling that I can change things, hopefully for the better. You can’t do (that) in your own life. You don’t have that kind of control.”

Marks was nominated for an Oscar along with Walter Murch, Gerald B. Greenberg, and Lisa Fruchtman for “Apocalypse Now” after spending several years on Coppola’s Vietnam War epic. Coppola shot an unprecedented 1.5 million feet of footage for “Apocalyse Now.”

Marks edited all six of James Brooks’ feature films —  “Terms of Endearment,” “Broadcast News,” “As Good as It Gets,” “I’ll Do Anything,” “Spanglish,” and “How Do You Know,” which was Marks’ final credit.

Marks taught film editing at UCLA for more than a decade. Survivors include his widow and daughter Leslie. Funeral services are pending.

 

Filmography

Editor

Year     Film     Director           Notes

1972    Parades            Robert J. Siegel          

1973    Bang the Drum Slowly           John D. Hancock       

Serpico            Sidney Lumet 

1974    Three Tough Guys      Duccio Tessari

The Godfather Part II  Francis Ford Coppola Second collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola

1975    Lies My Father Told Me         Ján Kadár       

1976    The Last Tycoon         Elia Kazan     

1981    The Hand        Oliver Stone   

Pennies from Heaven  Herbert Ross   First collaboration with Herbert Ross

1983    Max Dugan Returns    Second collaboration with Herbert Ross

Terms of Endearment  James L. Brooks         First collaboration with James L. Brooks

1984    The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension       W. D. Richter 

1985    St. Elmo's Fire Joel Schumacher        

1986    Pretty in Pink  Howard Deutch          

1987    Broadcast News          James L. Brooks         Second collaboration with James L. Brooks

1989    Say Anything...           Cameron Crowe         

1990    Dick Tracy      Warren Beatty

1991    One Good Cop            Heywood Gould         

Father of the Bride      Charles Shyer  First collaboration with Charles Shyer

1994    I'll Do Anything          James L. Brooks         Third collaboration with James L. Brooks

1995    Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead   Gary Fleder    

Assassins         Richard Donner          First collaboration with Richard Donner

1997    'Til There Was You      Scott Winant   

As Good as It Gets      James L. Brooks         Fourth collaboration with James L. Brooks

1998    You've Got Mail          Nora Ephron   First collaboration with Nora Ephron

2000    What Planet Are You From?   Mike Nichols 

2001    Riding in Cars with Boys       Penny Marshall           Third collaboration with Penny Marshall

2003    Timeline          Richard Donner          Second collaboration with Richard Donner

2004    Spanglish         James L. Brooks         Fifth collaboration with James L. Brooks

2008    Made of Honor           Paul Weiland  

2009    Julie & Julia    Nora Ephron   Second collaboration with Nora Ephron

2010    How Do You Know    James L. Brooks         Sixth collaboration with James L. Brooks

Editorial department

Year     Film     Director           Role     Notes   Other notes

1969    The Rain People          Francis Ford Coppola Assistant editor           First collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola 

Alice's Restaurant       Arthur Penn    First collaboration with Arthur Penn 

1970    Little Big Man Associate editor           Second collaboration with Arthur Penn         

1979    Apocalypse Now        Francis Ford Coppola Supervising editor       Third collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola 

1992    A League of Their Own          Penny Marshall           Editorial consultant     Second collaboration with Penny Marshall          

Uncredited

1994    I Love Trouble            Charles Shyer  Additional film editor Second collaboration with Charles Shyer           

1996    The Crow: City of Angels       Tim Pope         Editorial consultant                

1999    Inspector Gadget         David Kellogg Additional editor                    

2006    The Holiday    Nancy Meyers Additional film editor            

Producer

Year     Film     Director           Credit  Notes

1986    Jumpin' Jack Flash      Penny Marshall           Associate producer      First collaboration with Penny Marshall

1989    Say Anything...           Cameron Crowe          Co-producer   

1994    I'll Do Anything          James L. Brooks         Associate producer     

1997    As Good as It Gets      Co-producer   

2003    My Teacher, My Friend II       David Mickey Evans  Executive producer    

2004    Spanglish         James L. Brooks         Co-producer   

2010    How Do You Know   

Second unit director or assistant director

Year     Film     Director           Role

1990    Dick Tracy      Warren Beatty Second unit director

Sound department

Year     Film     Director           Role

1971    Doc     Frank Perry     Sound editor

Thanks

Year     Film     Director           Role

1982    Flicks  

Peter Winograd

Kirk Henderson

Special thanks

1992    A League of Their Own          Penny Marshall           Thanks

Documentaries

Thanks

Year     Film     Director           Role

1991    Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse        

Eleanor Coppola

Fax Bahr

George Hickenlooper

Special thanks

2015    Everything Is Copy    

Jacob Bernstein

Nick Hooker

TV movies

Editor

Year     Film     Director

1977    The Blue Hotel            Ján Kadár

TV series

Editor

Year     Title     Notes

1976    The American Parade  1 episode

1976−77          Kojak  3 episodes

TV specials

Editor

Year     Title

2002    74th Academy Awards

Awards

Awards

Year     Film     Role

1975    The Godfather Part II  Nominated for a BAFTA

1980    Apocalypse Now        Nominated for Oscar, BAFTA and Eddie

1984    Terms of Endearment  Nominated for Oscar

1988    Broadcast News          Nominated for Oscar and Eddie

1998    As Good as It Gets      Nominated for Oscar and Eddie