Bill Varney, 77, died Saturday, April 2, 2011 of congestive heart failure in Fairhope.
He was a sound re-recording mixer, two-time Academy Award winner and four time nominee.
He started his career as a disc jockey in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, but got the film bug while working on educational film at MIT. In 1961 he came to the West Coast to help produce educational films for Encyclopedia Britannica and a long time career was born.
He started mixing at Producer Sound Services, then moved to Samuel Goldwyn Studios, and retired from Universal Studios Hollywood as Vice President of Sound Operations in May 2001.
Among his many TV and film credits where; “Roots” (Emmy nomination episode 1), “Animal House” (1978), “Grease” (1978), “Ordinary People” (1980), “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980, Academy Award win), “Raiders of the Lost” (1981, Academy Award win and a British Academy of Film and Television Arts nomination), “Poltergeist” (1982), “Dune” (1984, Academy Award Nomination), and “Back to the Future” (1985, Academy Award Nomination).
During his achievement filled career he was also a president of the Cinema Audio Society, and member of the executive committee of the Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He was a born in Beverly, Mass., attended Swampscott High, moved to Hollywood in 1961, and retired to Fairhope in 2003.
Survivors include his wife, Suzanne; and a daughter, Lisa.
