The legendary Oscar winning editor, Elmo Williams, has died at the age of 102.
According to Deadline, Williams died peacefully at his home in Brookings, Oregon on Wednesday. Williams's most notable work was in High Noon, which he won the Oscar for best editing, and 2000 Leagues Under the Sea, which he got an Oscar nomination for.
High Noon came out in 1952 and starred Gary Cooper but it was the editing that stole the show. Williams pieced together the multiple shots of the train tracks awaiting the train and the fate of the cop Cooper portrays. That sequence when the train rolls into the station was revolutionary for its time and remains one of the staples of the picture today.
Williams was born in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma in 1913. His career in Hollywood began when he became the protege of Merrill G. White before he branched out on his own as an editor.
He was the oldest living Oscar winner but according to The Hollywood Reporter that honor now goes to Olivia de Havilland who is 99.
Williams was a family man whose wife was also in Hollywood. The two of them retired to Oregon in 1983 where they lived out the rest of their lives together. Williams’ family will hold a private service for him as well as a public memorial which will start approximately at high noon.