Alan Splet

Alan Splet
BornDecember 31, 1939
DiedDecember 2, 1994(1994-12-02) (aged 54)
Berkeley, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Sound designer and editor
SpouseAnn Kroeber

Alan Splet (December 31, 1939 – December 2, 1994) was an American sound designer and sound editor known for his collaborations with director David Lynch on Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Dune, and Blue Velvet.[1]

Due to being legally blind, Splet rarely traveled and mainly worked from Berkeley, California.[2] In 1980, he won an Oscar for his work on the film The Black Stallion. He did not attend the Academy Award ceremony and became the butt of several jokes by host Johnny Carson throughout the remainder of the telecast.[3] He was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing for Never Cry Wolf.[4] In 1995, The Motion Picture Sound Editors union posthumously honored Splet with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his creative contributions to the field of cinema audio.[5]

Splet was married to sound effects designer Ann Kroeber, and collaborated with her on most of his projects from 1979 until his death in 1994.

Selected filmography

Year Title Director Notes
1970 The Grandmother David Lynch short film
1976 In the Region of Ice Peter Werner Sound design
1977 Eraserhead David Lynch see Eraserhead soundtrack
1978 Days of Heaven Terrence Malick additional sound effects
1979 The Black Stallion Carroll Ballard Special Achievement Academy Award
1980 The Elephant Man David Lynch
1983 Never Cry Wolf Carroll Ballard Academy Award nomination
1984 Dune David Lynch
1986 Blue Velvet David Lynch
1986 The Mosquito Coast Peter Weir
1988 The Unbearable Lightness of Being Philip Kaufman
1988 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Frank Oz
1989 Winter People Ted Kotcheff
1989 Weekend at Bernie's Ted Kotcheff
1989 Dead Poets Society Peter Weir
1990 Mountains of the Moon Bob Rafelson
1990 Henry & June Philip Kaufman
1991 Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead Stephen Herek
1991 At Play in the Fields of the Lord Hector Babenco
1992 Wind Carroll Ballard
1993 Rising Sun Philip Kaufman
1996 The English Patient Anthony Minghella died during production; replaced by Walter Murch

References

  1. ^ Woodward, Richard B. (May 13, 2014). "Snapping, Humming, Buzzing, Banging: Remembering Alan Splet". The Paris Review.
  2. ^ Luers, Erik (12 April 2022). "Editor Duwayne Dunham on Collaborating with David Lynch on Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart and Twin Peaks | Filmmaker Magazine". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  3. ^ "And the Winner Is...Alan Splet, Who Became a Household Word by Skipping the Oscars". People Magazine. May 5, 1980. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  4. ^ "The 56th Academy Awards (1984) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
  5. ^ "Milestones in the History of the MPSE". Archived from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.


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