Born in Los Angeles, CA. He entered films at age 15 as a lab assistant at Keystone and worked his way up to supervising editor of Mack Sennett's comedies. In 1934 he went to England, where he was put in charge of editing Alexander Korda productions. In this capacity, he supervised the editing of such major British films as THE GHOST GOES WEST, SANDERS OF THE RIVER, REMBRANDT, THINGS TO COME, THE DRUM/DRUMS, THE LION HAS WINGS, THE FOUR FEATHERS, and THE THIEF OF BAGDAD. Returning to the US after the outbreak of WW II, he joined the US Army Pictorial Service of the Signal Corps with the rank of lieutenant colonel and, among other duties, supervised the editing of the famed "Why We Fight" series, which were made by such Hollywood directors as Frank Capra and Anatole Litvak. After the war, he edited a number of notable Hollywood productions, including George Stevens' A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951), for which he received an Academy Award. A Universal executive from 1960, he was appointed vice president in 1966.  Nominated for Film Editing 1946: IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE  Film Editing 1951: A PLACE IN THE SUN  Nominated for Film Editing 1956: GIANT  Nominated for Film Editing 1958: I WANT TO LIVE! 4 nominations, 1 Award