Born in New York City. A graduate of USC Film School, Murch has been editing sound in Hollywood since starting on Francis Ford Coppola's film THE RAIN PEOPLE (1969), then did the sound for USC classmate Geoge Lucas' THX-1138 (1971), as well as co-writing the film's screenplay. He did the sound montage and recording on AMERICAN GRAFITTI (1973) and THE GODFATHER, PART II (1974). He received his first Academy Award nomination for THE CONVERSATION (1974), and won his first Oscar® for APOCALYPSE NOW (1979), and won unprecedented double Oscars for sound and film editing for his work on THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1996). More recently he helped reconstruct TOUCH OF EVIL to Orson Welles' original notes, and edited THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999). Sound and picture editing credits during the 2000s include K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER (2002), COLD MOUNTAIN (2003), JARHEAD (2005) and YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH (2007). Along with George Lucas and Francis Coppola, Murch was a founding member of northern California cinema. He has directed -- the disappointing RETURN TO OZ (1985) -- and longs to do so again, but as an editor and sound man he is one of the few universally acknowledged masters in his field. For his work on the film APOCALYPSE NOW, Walter coined the term "Sound Designer", and along with colleagues such as Ben Burtt, helped to elevate the art and impact of film sound to a new level.  Nominated for Sound 1974: THE CONVERSATION (w. Arthur Rochester)  Nominated for Film Editing 1977: JULIA  Nominated for Film Editing 1979: APOCALYPSE NOW (w. Richard Marks, Gerald Greenberg & Lisa Fruchtman)  Sound 1979: APOCALYPSE NOW (w. Mark Berger, Richard Beggs & Nat Boxer)  Nominated for Achievement in Film Editing 1990: GHOST  Nominated for Achievement in Film Editing 1990: THE GODFATHER, PART III (w. Barry Malkin & Lisa Fruchtman)  Best Achievement in Film Editing 1996: THE ENGLISH PATIENT  Best Achievement in Sound 1996: THE ENGLISH PATIENT (w. Mark Berger, David Parker & Chris Newman)  Nominated for Film Editing 2003: COLD MOUNTAIN 9 nominations, 3 Awards