Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1197255
68 W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y Jim Alexander: Remembering the Innovative Sound Mixer Legend Jim Alexander was a production sound mixer with a career spanning over 40 years, working on movies directed by Clint Eastwood, John Hughes, Michael Apted, James Brooks, Alfred Hitchcock, George Roy Hill, and many others. His integrity toward his craft was exemplary and he generously mentored up-and-coming sound professionals throughout his life. Most everybody I spoke with who had worked with Jim seemed to gravitate toward one word to describe him: Legendary. After serving as a communications specialist in the U.S. Army, Jim worked climbing telephone poles for AT&T. Around 1949, his father, Warner Bros. dubbing mixer Gerald Alexander, let him know that someone "downstairs" was retiring. The job was to load 'dummies' (sound effects and other media) onto machines for the final mix in the dub room. Jim really enjoyed his b y C A S A s s o c i a t e B r a n d o n L o u l i a s job as a lineman, and had to think it over before making the decision. Gerald also worked as a lineman for Lincoln Telephone Co. in Nebraska in 1918, then moved to Los Angeles around 1923, becoming a PBX installation technician for Bell Labs. His manager approached him with a job offer: collaborate with a new Warner Bros. company called "Vitaphone," wiring the stages for a man named George Groves. Gerald (Jerry) turned it down, as it didn't seem like a realistic career path, and was only a temporary contract. His manager then offered to double his salary, then tripled it to finally get him to say yes. He wired the stages at what was then known as "The Sunset Lot" (now ABC Prospect Lot). Being