John F. Burnett, the veteran film editor who made the cut fat, And justice for all and Murder by death She died and films by directors George Cukor, Blake Edwards, and Sydney Pollack. He was 90 years old.
Burnett died on October 24 of natural causes in Lincoln, California, said his son, cinematographer and producer John Earl Burnett. Hollywood Reporter. He said that his father was a victim of elder abuse, and for legal reasons the family was unable to disclose the news of his death until now.
Burnett also worked with directors Robert Ellis Miller The heart is a lonely hunter (1968), The girl from Petrovka (1974) and Bed and breakfast (1991) and with Herbert Ross Owl and kitten (1970), Sons of the rising sun (1975) and Farewell girl (1977).
He edited two immersive ABC miniseries adapted from the epic novels by Hermann Wouk in 1983. Winds of war And the nineties War and memorywinning an Emmy Award (shared with Peter Zinner) for the latter.
Burnett got his start at Warner Bros., coming in on weekends to help Cukor work Chapman Report (1962), he was hired by the famous director to edit it My fair lady (1964), starring Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier in a 1975 ABC television movie. Love among the ruins and Rich and famous (1981), Cukor’s final film.
Burnett also cut Edwards The big race (1965), Wild Rovers (1971) and Fine mess (1986); Pollack The way we were (1973); Norman Jewison And justice for all (1979); Robert Moore Murder by death (1976); Randall Kleiser fat (1978); And Richard Pierce Leap of faith (1992).
“He would take what the director gave him — and Cukor gave him thousands and thousands of feet a day because he did everything from the top — and he had this way of putting things together,” his son said. Cinemamontage magazine.
Burnett also served as president of the Motion Picture Editors Guild from 1975 to 1976 and received a Career Achievement Award from the Motion Picture Editors of America in 2003.
John Forbes Burnett was born on March 5, 1934 in Kansas City, Missouri. When he was young, he and his family moved to Southern California, where his father, Gilbert, was an engineer at Lockheed.
After graduating from John Burroughs High School, Burnett got a job as a messenger at Warner Bros., and after a stint in the US Army from 1952 to 1954 during the Korean War, he was hired as an assistant film editor on Billy Wilder. Spirit of St. Louis (1957).
Then work on Helen Morgan’s story (1957), FBI story (1959), Mervyn Leroy Gypsies (1962), Music man (1962) and Mike Nichols Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) before receiving his first (non-assistant) editor credit The heart is a lonely hunterStarring Alan Arkin and Sondra Locke.
Miller signed him to a multi-picture deal but would release him from the contract so he could work for other filmmakers.
Burnett’s editorial bio is included Culpeper Livestock Company (1972), Can’t stop the music (1980)grease 2 (1982) and Juggernaut (1989). He was also editor and producer of the syndicated television series 1995-1997 Baywatch Nights And a producer on the PTEN show in 1995 PointmanStarring Jack Scalia.
As president of MPEG, Burnett said he oversaw the contract negotiations that led to what was at the time the largest pay increase in IATSE history. These conversations led to editors getting pre-credits and one-shot credits on features as well.
For the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he served on the Board of Governors from 1975 to 1985 and as Executive Secretary from 1983 to 1984. He also created a course in film editing for AFI and taught there for several years.
In 2000, Burnett retired from Hollywood, and after 43 years, he served as a reserve captain with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. In Lincoln, he owned a farm of 20 acres.
Survivors include another son, Stephen, and a brother, David. He was predeceased by his wives Rosemary in 1998 and Margie in 2018.
