Born in Brooklyn, NY. He was the first African-American film editor to be nominated for an Oscar®. He started as an assistant editor on SOMETHING WILD (1961) and edited sound effects on THE MIRACLE WORKER (1962), MICKEY ONE and A THOUSAND CLOWNS (both 1965). He was associate editor on LILITH (1964). He collaborated on editing HARVEY MIDDLEMAN, FIREMAN (1965) and soloed on MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969) and SHAFT (1971). He then turned to directing, and his credits include BLACK MUSIC IN AMERICA: FROM THEN TILL NOW (1971), MELINDA (1972), BIM (1976) and OBEAH (1987).  Nominated for Film Editing 1969: MIDNIGHT COWBOY 1nomination