David Gamble obit

David Gamble obituary

 

He was not on the list.

My husband, David Gamble, who has died aged 70, was an award-winning film editor who worked in documentaries, TV dramas and feature films.

As the editor on the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes, David won a Bafta, and was nominated for an Academy Award (the film, directed by John Madden, won the Oscar for best film).

More films followed, including Veronica Guerin (2003), starring Cate Blanchett, and Shopgirl (2005), featuring Steve Martin and Claire Danes.

David was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, to Ida (nee Haire), a housewife, and William Gamble, a clerk. He attended the Model primary school, then Foyle college, before studying ecology at Edinburgh University. It was while living in Edinburgh that his love of film grew, through the annual film festival. On graduation in 1977 he worked in various jobs including as a park ranger in the Hermitage of Braid, Edinburgh, and as a wildlife conservation researcher in Loch Leven, where he studied the mating patterns of brown trout.

But his heart lay in the visual arts, and in 1983, on hearing from a friend that there were jobs going in London selling tickets at the Royal Academy, he made his way there. He then got a job as assistant projectionist at the London Film School, before working as a freelance assistant editor from 1984 to 1989, then freelance editor thereafter.

One of his first editing credits was on the 1989 TV series Streetwise, starring Andy Serkis. In the 1990s David co-edited the miniseries Tales of the City starring Laura Linney, and edited dramas including the TV movies Loved Up, Black Easter (both 1995) and Truth or Dare (1996), as well as the pilot episode of Cold Feet in 1997. Moving into feature films he edited Different for Girls (1996) and My Son the Fanatic (1997), written by Hanif Kureishi, before going on to Shakespeare in Love.

The essence of great film editing is storytelling, and David was a wonderful storyteller. His wit and musicality informed his editing and the passions of his life were film and music – in the late 2000s he sometimes DJed at his friends Steve and Ali’s live music club What’s Cookin‘ in east London. In 2006 David moved from editing to teaching, inspiring students at various film schools including the National Film School and London Film Academy, and universities such as Edinburgh, Kent, Goldsmiths, University of London and Southampton Solent, which made him an honorary fellow in 2015. He continued teaching until last year.

David was the kindest of men. His wit and humour, and his distinctive laugh, were all commented upon by colleagues, friends and neighbours. His love for art, music and literature made him an erudite companion.

David and I met in 1983, at a gig by the electro-funk band Prince Charles and the City Beat. We were together from then, marrying in 1997.

I survive him, as do his sisters, Jenny and Heather.

 

Editor

Claire Danes, Steve Martin, and Jason Schwartzman in Shopgirl (2005)

Shopgirl

6.3

Editor

2005

 

Snuff-Movie (2005)

Snuff-Movie

3.8

Editor

2005

 

Cate Blanchett in Veronica Guerin (2003)

Veronica Guerin

6.8

Editor

2003

 

Timothy Spall, Lennie James, James Nesbitt, and Bill Nighy in Lucky Break (2001)

Lucky Break

6.2

Editor

2001

 

Andrew McCarthy in The Sight (2000)

The Sight

5.8

TV Movie

Editor

2000

 

Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes in Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Shakespeare in Love

7.1

Editor

1998

 

My Son the Fanatic (1997)

My Son the Fanatic

6.8

Editor

1997

 

Robert Bathurst, James Nesbitt, Hermione Norris, Fay Ripley, and John Thomson in Cold Feet (1997)

Cold Feet

8.2

TV Series

Editor

1997

1 episode

 

Screen One (1985)

Screen One

6.9

TV Series

Editor

1996

1 episode

 

Rupert Graves and Steven Mackintosh in Different for Girls (1996)

Different for Girls

7.0

Editor

1996

 

Ian Hart and Lena Headey in Loved Up (1995)

Loved Up

6.8

TV Movie

Editor

1995

 

Screen Two (1984)

Screen Two

6.6

TV Series

Editor

1995

1 episode

 

Queen of the East (1995)

Queen of the East

7.3

TV Movie

Editor

1995

 

Tales of the City (1993)

Tales of the City

8.3

TV Mini Series

Editor

1993

6 episodes

 

The Secret (1991)

The Secret

TV Series

Editor

1991

 

Frankie Howerd in All Change (1989)

All Change

6.6

TV Series

Editor

1989–1991

6 episodes

 

Streetwise (1989)

Streetwise

7.4

TV Series

Editor

1989

12 episodes

 

Editorial Department

Borrowed Time (2012)

Borrowed Time

5.9

editorial consultant

2012

 

One World: The Years that Rocked the Planet

off-line editor

1992

 

Bill Paterson in Traffik (1989)

Traffik

8.4

TV Mini Series

assistant editor: Britain

1989

 

Rowan Atkinson, Jeff Goldblum, Emma Thompson, Kim Thomson, and Emil Wolk in The Tall Guy (1989)

The Tall Guy

6.2

assistant editor

1989

 

Elliott Spiers in Paperhouse (1988)

Paperhouse

6.6

second assistant editor

1988

 

Paul Weller, The Style Council, Mick Talbot, and Dee C. Lee in The Style Council: Jerusalem (1987)

The Style Council: Jerusalem

6.8

Music Video

assistant editor

1987

 

Geoffrey Palmer in Fairly Secret Army (1984)

Fairly Secret Army

7.2

TV Series

assistant editor

1984

1 episode

 

Sound Department

Driving Me Crazy (1988)

Driving Me Crazy

6.6

sound editor

1988

 

Geoffrey Palmer in Fairly Secret Army (1984)

Fairly Secret Army

7.2

TV Series

assistant sound editor

1986

1 episode

 

Thanks

Patricia Clarkson in Out of Blue (2018)

Out of Blue

4.8

thanks

2018

 

Doremi (2011)

Doremi

Short

special thanks

2011

 

Lorraine Ashbourne, Angela Walsh, and Dean Williams in Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)

Distant Voices, Still Lives

7.4

with special thanks to

1988