Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546034
43 F A L L Q 3 I S S U E I N M E M O R I A M of Fox's "24," the action thriller starring Kiefer Sutherland that committed to a real-time format (including a ceaselessly ticking-away clock on the screen). "I don't think he expected it to be as big a deal as it was," Lynne Willingham said. "He liked the creative challenge of trying to follow a clock. You couldn't do things like cut away and come back. The clock is ticking; it's a character." Amid the success of "24," Willingham got the opportunity to edit several feature f ilms, including "Final Destination 3" (2006), directed by Wong and written by Morgan and Wong. Apart from that film, though, Lynne Willingham said that her husband never became acclimated to the feature world. "He wasn't great in inter- views," she said. "He wasn't someone who'd go in and really sell himself." His other feature credits include Morgan's remake of "Black Christmas" (2006) and "Amuse- ment" (2008). Eventually, he returned to the world he knew best, episodic television, including NBC's supernatural-inflected detective show "Grimm." Having worked in so many different genres and with so many different person- alities, Willingham had gained a sense of how to work productively with competing creative forces, his wife said. "You have to be able to not only know story but be very diplomatic," she said. "You're working with all these high-powered producers and these writers and directors, and you have to make them all happy. That's an art form, too, which he was very good at." Willingham retired in 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic. "He had done a few shows that were not very satisfying to him, to be honest," said Lynne Willingham, who herself retired in 2023. "We had a couple of nice years where we could just hang and do things together." After being diagnosed with diabetes in 2022, he began complaining about feeling unwell on intermittent occasions. The last time he did so, in June 2025, he experienced the heart attack that took his life. Yet Willingham's legacy in the cutting room survives him — both the work that he did in accumulating over 100,000 union hours over 46 years, and the joy he gave to his colleagues. "Quite literally up to the day he died, we would, depending on who was saying it, either share or inflict bad puns on each other," said Jim Thomson, who worked with Willingham as an assistant picture editor on "Space: Above and Beyond" and "Millennium." "It was a r unning joke: who could have the geekiest, goofiest joke, particularly science- or math-based. And Monty Python." A d d e d L a t h a m : "C h r i s w a s a k i n d- hearted guy with an irresistible goofy side. Perhaps the most entertaining guy I've ever known. I miss him a lot." In addition to his wife, Willingham is survived by his daughters, Lisa and Julia, and his grandchildren, Ella, Avery, and Hollyn, and a houseful of critters. ■ Peter Tonguette S tephen Everett Ralsten was born June 4, 1950, in Munster, Indiana, to Merrill and Lois Ralsten. The oldest of four children, his life revolved around music and entertainment. He played French horn in high school a n d c o l l e g e b e f o r e g r a d u a t i n g f r o m CalArts. He began his career at Disneyland on December 15, 1966, the day Walt Disney passed away. After starting as a character (most notably Captain Hook and Baloo the bear), traveling the U.S. on the Disney plane promoting Disneyland in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he worked his way up to collaborate with a variety of world- class entertainers as the Tomorrowland stage manager. He later joined the Hollywood entertain- ment industry as a sound engineer, running the playback room at the famed Glen Glenn Sound Studios where he worked alongside some of the finest talent in the business S T E P H E N E. R A L S T E N J U N E 4, 1950 – M A R C H 23, 2026 until his retirement in 2006. Steve embraced life to the fullest. Be- yond music, he had a passion for boating, photography, golf, and collecting art, par- ticularly Disney memorabilia. H e p ro u d l y c e l e b r a t e d 4 1 y e a r s o f sobriety and was deeply devoted to AA, generously mentoring others on their path to recovery. A grateful recipient of both a success- ful 10-year heart transplant and, later, a successful three-and-a-half-year kidney transplant, he made a point of visiting new- ly transplanted organ recipients to offer hope and encouragement. On March 23, 2026, Steve passed away after a lifetime of medical challenges that he faced with grace and resilience. He is survived by his daughter Michaela, grand- daughter Claire, ex-wife Barbara, sister Ann, and brothers Merrill and David. Prior to his heart transplant, Steve dictated a list of the musicians, celebrities, and productions he had the privilege of working with over the course of his career: Musicians & Performers N a t a l i e C o l e • T h e P o i n t e r S i s t e r s • T h e P i n k L a d i e s • K a r e n C a r p e n t e r • O l i v i a N e w t o n - J o h n • H a r r y J a m e s