Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500026
31 S U M M E R Q 2 I S S U E C A M B E R N As for Donn, he leveraged his bachelor's degree in music from UCLA into a first ca- reer as a music editor at Disney from 1952 to 1959, and then at 20th Century Fox where he worked under the prolific composer Lionel Newman. His time at UCLA also led him to meet his lifelong love, Patricia "Pat" Lee Gilmor, whom he married in 1950 and with whom he shared three children: Sharon, Clay, and Wade. "They all have such big hearts," said visual effects editor, board member, and friend Sharon Smith Holley of Donn and his family. "As a mentor, Donn was someone who made everyone feel comfortable and relaxed, like we were family, too." As Donn's expertise grew as a music editor, he had the opportunity to work with television composer Earle Hagan on a number of classic TV shows throughout the 1960s, including "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Andy Griffith Show," "Gomer Pyle, USMC," and "That Girl." Those early experiences eventually helped him land the "2000 Years Later" gig with director Bert Tenzer, which in turn led him to seek the advice of editor Gerald "Jerry " Shepard, who at the time was busy editing a television special for The Monkees. Shepard connected Cambern with actor-turned-director Dennis Hopper. He was in need of an editor for his direc- torial debut, "Easy Rider." That film – and Cambern's innovative contributions to its iconic sound – has been credited as not only groundbreaking for its use of a rock-and- roll soundtrack, but for its role in ushering in what became known as the "New Holly- wood" era of the late 1960s and early 1970s. " T h e o r i g i n a l v e r s i o n o f t h e f i l m i s s a i d t o h a v e r u n n e a r l y t w i c e t h e present length," wrote The Hollywood Reporter's John Mahoney upon the film's re- lease in 1969. "Yet the final cut, executed by film editor Donn Cambern by collabora- tive agreements, unfolds with unmarred lyric simplicity." The film earned two Academy Award nominations that year, one for Jack Nich- olson for Best Supporting Actor, and the other for Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, and Terry Southern for Best Original Screen- play. The film's success and critical acclaim also cemented Cambern's place in cinemat- ic history. His own Academy Award nomination wouldn't come for another 15 years, but his credits continued to grow, as did his rela- tionships with other acclaimed directors, such as Ivan Reitman and John Cassavetes. But it was the action-adventure romantic comedy, "Romancing the Stone," directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, that earned Cambern and his co-editor Frank Morriss b o t h a n A c a d e m y Aw a r d n o m i n a t i o n f o r f i l m e d i t i n g a n d a n A m e r i c a n Cinema Editors (ACE) Eddie Award nomi- nation in 1984. 'A powerful force for good' C a m b e r n's d e s i re to g i ve b a c k wa s nourished by his active mentorship of other editors throughout his career. And as Motion Picture Editors Guild president from 1991 to 2002, his leadership was marked by compassion and selflessness, said Cathy Repola, the Guild's national ex- ecutive director, who first met Donn when she interviewed for the assistant executive director position more than 30 years ago. "I did not come from the editing craft, but I had a background in working for a union, so when I first started here, I had a large Cambern with Cathy Repola in a 2007 photo. 'He led from a place of wanting to help make others' lives better.'