Chris Willingham obit

Chris Willingham, Film Editor on ’24,’ ‘The X-Files,’ ‘Grimm,’ Dies at 74

The 1980s TV hit ‘B.J. and the Bear’ was his first editing gig, and he cut an episode of 'Yellowstone' in 2019. 

He was not on the list.

Chris Willingham, the veteran film editor who cut 24, The X-Files, Millennium, Harsh Realm and The Others, has died. He was 74.

The three-time Emmy Award winner died of a heart attack at home in Los Angeles on June 28, the WME agency confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.

Lynne Willingham, who survives Chris as his wife of 37 years, added in a statement: “Chris was an intuitive editor. He was a gifted storyteller. His pacing and choices were incredibly beautiful. You could tell when watching a series if it was his episode. He was just always in the right place at the right time. You can’t really teach that. He was funny and smart, and I was so very lucky to have him not only as my wonderful husband but as my creative partner! We were a great team.”

Born on Dec. 25, 1950, his career over four decades included film editing credits for Space Above and Beyond, Grimm, The Son, 21 Jump Street, Dragonball Evolution, Black Christmas, The A-Team and the feature Final Destination 3. More recently, Willingham cut an episode of Yellowstone in 2019, and before that three episodes of The Son.

The 1980s TV hit B.J. and the Bear was his first editing gig. But well before that, Willingham served in the U.S. Navy as a submariner. On completing his naval service, he started work in the film shipping department at KHJ Channel 9, and worked his way up into the news department.

In 1978, he moved over to Universal Film Studios as an assistant film editor. While editing The Greatest American Hero, the 1980s sci-fi series, Willingham caught the eye of prolific Hollywood producer Stephen J. Cannell and continued to work for SJC Productions for a decade.

He received five Emmy nominations for his work on 24, which he cut for the first four seasons, and came away in all with three Emmy trophies for his work on the Fox action series.

He is survived by Lynne Willingham, also a film editor and an Emmy winner for her work on Breaking Bad. They met while both worked at SJC Productions and they married in 1988. Together, they cut several shows for Stephen J. Cannell until his studio closed. They went on to work on series like The X-Files and the miniseries Empire and The Son.

Of his marriage and creative collaboration with his wife, Willingham once said: “We had a producer, David Levinson, who loved that he had a married couple working for him. He thought that we were often talking about the show even when we were home. Kicking around ideas for the cut with each other. And he was right. If one of us had something that wasn’t working for us, we’d run it past each other. It was great having another editor that you trusted to bounce off of.” 

Willingham is also survived by his daughters Lisa and Julia; his son-in-law, David; his granddaughters Ella, Avery and Hollyn; and his six pets.

Willingham was an avid animal advocate, so in lieu of flowers, his family asks donations in his memory be made to their favorite animal rescue.

 

Editor

Yellowstone (2018)

Yellowstone

8.6

TV Series

Editor

2019

1 episode

 

Pierce Brosnan in The Son (2017)

The Son

7.5

TV Series

Editor

2019

3 episodes

 

The Get

5.9

TV Movie

Editor

2017

 

Brendan Gleeson in Mr. Mercedes (2017)

Mr. Mercedes

7.8

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2017

1 episode

 

David Giuntoli in Grimm (2011)

Grimm

7.9

TV Series

Editor

2011–2017

43 episodes

 

Peter's Ashes (2014)

Peter's Ashes

Short

Editor

2014

 

Piper Perabo in Covert Affairs (2010)

Covert Affairs

7.3

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2010–2013

5 episodes

 

Dana Delany in Body of Proof (2011)

Body of Proof

7.1

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2013

2 episodes

 

Detroit 1-8-7 (2010)

Detroit 1-8-7

7.6

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2010–2011

5 episodes

 

Cliff Curtis, Derek Luke, and Scottie Thompson in Trauma (2009)

Trauma

7.6

TV Series

Editor

2009–2010

4 episodes

 

Chow Yun-Fat, Emmy Rossum, Justin Chatwin, Eriko Tamura, and Jamie Chung in Dragonball Evolution (2009)

Dragonball Evolution

2.5

Editor

2009

 

Justin Bruening in Knight Rider (2008)

Knight Rider

5.6

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2008–2009

4 episodes

 

Amusement (2008)

Amusement

4.9

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2008

 

James Woods in Shark (2006)

Shark

7.1

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2008

1 episode

 

Lacey Chabert and Kristen Cloke in Black Christmas (2006)

Black Christmas

4.7

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2006

 

Alexz Johnson, Kris Lemche, Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe, Ryan Merriman, Chelan Simmons, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Gina Holden, Sam Easton, Jesse Moss, Texas Battle, Dylan Basu, and Alberto Ghisi in Final Destination 3 (2006)

Final Destination 3

5.9

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2006

 

Empire (2005)

Empire

6.2

TV Mini Series

Editor

2005

6 episodes

 

Kiefer Sutherland, Reiko Aylesworth, Carlos Bernard, Jude Ciccolella, Glenn Morshower, and Mary Lynn Rajskub in 24 (2001)

24

8.4

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2001–2005

27 episodes

 

Strange Frequency (2001)

Strange Frequency

6.4

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2001

3 episodes

 

Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny in The X-Files (1993)

The X-Files

8.6

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2000–2001

7 episodes

 

Tom Braidwood, Dean Haglund, and Bruce Harwood in The Lone Gunmen (2001)

The Lone Gunmen

7.3

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2001

1 episode

 

Strange Frequency (2001)

Strange Frequency

6.0

TV Movie

Editor

2001

 

Bill Cobbs, Missy Crider, Gabriel Macht, and Julianne Nicholson in The Others (2000)

The Others

7.6

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

2000

4 episodes

 

Scott Bairstow, Samantha Mathis, D.B. Sweeney, Max Martini, Rachel Hayward, Terry O'Quinn, and Sarah-Jane Redmond in Harsh Realm (1999)

Harsh Realm

7.0

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

1999–2000

2 episodes

 

The Wonder Cabinet (1999)

The Wonder Cabinet

4.7

TV Movie

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

1999

 

Millennium (1996)

Millennium

7.9

TV Series

Editor

1996–1999

16 episodes

 

Switch

Short

Editor

1998

 

Skip Chasers

6.4

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

1998

 

Kristen Cloke, Rodney Rowland, and Morgan Weisser in Space: Above and Beyond (1995)

Space: Above and Beyond

7.8

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

1995–1996

7 episodes

 

Adrian Pasdar in Profit (1996)

Profit

8.6

TV Series

Editor (as Chris Willingham)

1996

1 episode

 

Hawkeye (1994)

Hawkeye

7.8

TV Series

Editor

1994–1995

10 episodes

 

Greyhounds (1994)

Greyhounds

6.3

TV Movie

Editor

1994

 

Cobra (1993)

Cobra

6.3

TV Series

Editor

1993–1994

9 episodes

 

Don Michael Paul, Nestor Serrano, James Tolkan, and Billy Warlock in The Hat Squad (1992)

The Hat Squad

7.2

TV Series

Editor

1992–1993

6 episodes

 

Carl Weathers, Eric McCormack, and Bryan Genesse in Street Justice (1991)

Street Justice

7.0

TV Series

Editor

1992

1 episode

 

Michael Chiklis in The Commish (1991)

The Commish

7.1

TV Series

Editor

1992

1 episode

 

Johnny Depp, Holly Robinson Peete, Peter DeLuise, Dustin Nguyen, and Steven Williams in 21 Jump Street (1987)

21 Jump Street

7.2

TV Series

Editor

1989–1991

18 episodes

 

Dale Robertson and Ben Vereen in J.J. Starbuck (1987)

J.J. Starbuck

7.2

TV Series

Editor

1987

2 episodes

 

Nick Mancuso in Stingray (1986)

Stingray

7.4

TV Series

Editor

1986–1987

3 episodes

 

Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer in Hunter (1984)

Hunter

6.9

TV Series

Editor

1987

1 episode

 

George Peppard, Mr. T, Dirk Benedict, and Dwight Schultz in The A-Team (1983)

The A-Team

7.5

TV Series

Editor

1983–1986

29 episodes

 

Lee Van Cleef, Shô Kosugi, and Timothy Van Patten in The Master (1984)

The Master

4.5

TV Series

Editor

1984

1 episode

 

The Greatest American Hero (1981)

The Greatest American Hero

7.3

TV Series

Editor

1982–1983

6 episodes

 

Greg Evigan in B.J. and the Bear (1978)

B.J. and the Bear

6.4

TV Series

Editor

1981

2 episodes

 

Editorial Department

Piper Perabo in Covert Affairs (2010)

Covert Affairs

7.3

TV Series

additional editing (as Chris Willingham)

2013

1 episode

 

State Park (1988)

State Park

4.6

additional editing

1988

 

Additional Crew

Justin Bruening in Knight Rider (2008)

Knight Rider

5.6

TV Series

title designer: main title (as Chris Willingham)

2008–2009

15 episodes

 

Self

Lance Henriksen in Millennium After the Millennium (2019)

Millennium After the Millennium

7.7

Self

2019

 

Kiefer Sutherland, Paul Gadd, Anne Melville, and Scott Powell in Journeys Below the Line: 24 - The Editing Process (2005)

Journeys Below the Line: 24 - The Editing Process

7.4

Video

Self

2005

 

Sharon Stone in 2004 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards (2004)

2004 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards

TV Special

Self - Winner (as Chris Willingham)

2004

 

2003 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards

6.8

TV Special

Self - Winner (as Chris Willingham)

2003

 

2002 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards

TV Special

Self - Winner (as Chris Willingham)

2002