Harold F. Kress
Encyclopedia
Harold F. Kress was an American
film editor
best known for the 1962
film How the West Was Won
and the 1974
film The Towering Inferno
.
. He was married to Zelda Raphael and had one son, Carl. He entered the film industry in the late 1930s as an editor. Although he directed a few documentaries and made a stab at directing features, his real niche was as an editor, where he became one of the most respected editors in the industry.
Kress won his first Academy Award for editing How the West Was Won
(1962). He would win another for the 1974 action film The Towering Inferno
along with his son Carl Kress. He was nominated for Academy Awards for The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Yearling (1947), Mrs. Miniver
(1942) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
(1942). He was honored with the Career Achievement Award
in 1992 from the American Cinema Editors
. After suffering from cancer for a number of years, Kress died in Palm Desert, California on September 18, 1999.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film editor
Film editing
Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
best known for the 1962
1962 in film
The year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....
film How the West Was Won
How the West Was Won (film)
How the West Was Won is a 1962 American epic Western film. The picture was one of the last "old-fashioned" epic films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to enjoy great success. It follows four generations of a family as they move ever westward, from western New York state to the Pacific Ocean...
and the 1974
1974 in film
The year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in the USA.*August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J...
film The Towering Inferno
The Towering Inferno (film)
The Towering Inferno is a 1974 American action disaster film produced by Irwin Allen featuring an all-star cast led by Steve McQueen and Paul Newman.A co-production between Twentieth Century-Fox and Warner Bros...
.
Biography
Harold F. Kress was born in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. He was married to Zelda Raphael and had one son, Carl. He entered the film industry in the late 1930s as an editor. Although he directed a few documentaries and made a stab at directing features, his real niche was as an editor, where he became one of the most respected editors in the industry.
Kress won his first Academy Award for editing How the West Was Won
How the West Was Won (film)
How the West Was Won is a 1962 American epic Western film. The picture was one of the last "old-fashioned" epic films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to enjoy great success. It follows four generations of a family as they move ever westward, from western New York state to the Pacific Ocean...
(1962). He would win another for the 1974 action film The Towering Inferno
The Towering Inferno
The Towering Inferno is a 1974 American action disaster film produced by Irwin Allen featuring an all-star cast led by Steve McQueen and Paul Newman.A co-production between Twentieth Century-Fox and Warner Bros...
along with his son Carl Kress. He was nominated for Academy Awards for The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Yearling (1947), Mrs. Miniver
Mrs. Miniver (film)
Mrs. Miniver is a 1942 American drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, and Teresa Wright. Based on the fictional English housewife created by Jan Struther in 1937 for a series of newspaper columns, the film won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture,...
(1942) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941 film)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1941 horror film starring Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner. Rather than being a new film version of the novel, it is a direct remake of the 1931 film of the same name, which differs greatly from the novel. The movie was based on Robert Louis Stevenson's...
(1942). He was honored with the Career Achievement Award
American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award
The American Cinema Editors gives one or more Career Achievement Awards each year. The first awards were given in 1987; the winners have been:*2011: Michael Kahn and Michael Brown*2010: Paul LaMastra and Neil Travis*2009: Sidney Katz and Arthur Schmidt...
in 1992 from the American Cinema Editors
American Cinema Editors
Founded in 1950, American Cinema Editors is an honorary society of film editors that are voted in based on the qualities of professional achievements, their education of others, and their dedication to editing itself. The society is not to be confused with an industry union, such as the I.A.T.S.E...
. After suffering from cancer for a number of years, Kress died in Palm Desert, California on September 18, 1999.