Jim Clark was an editor best known for his Oscar and BAFTA-winning work on Roland Joffe’s The Killing Fields. The 1984 film followed the story of a photojournalist who is trapped in Cambodia during the rule of Pol Pot. The historical drama was also nominated for best picture, actor, director and adapted screenplay, and won for best supporting actor and best cinematography.
Clark also edited the films The Grass Is Greener, starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr; Term of Trial starring Laurence Olivier; Charade, starring Grant and Audrey Hepburn; Far from the Madding Crowd, with Julie Christie and Peter Finch; Nell, with Jodie Foster and Liam Neeson; Marvin’s Room, with Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio and Diane Keaton; and The World Is Not Enough, starring Pierce Brosnan. He also served as a creative consultant on the 1969 classic film Midnight Cowboy.
In 1987 he was nominated for an Oscar, and won a BAFTA, for his work on the film The Mission, starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons. Additionally, he was nominated for BAFTAs for the films Vera Drake and Marathon Man, starring Dustin Hoffman and Olivier.
Jim Clark was an editor best known for his Oscar and BAFTA-winning work on Roland Joffe’s The Killing Fields. The 1984 film followed the story of a photojournalist who is trapped in Cambodia during the rule of Pol Pot. The historical drama was also nominated for best picture, actor, director and adapted screenplay, and won for best supporting actor and best cinematography.
Clark also edited the films The Grass Is Greener, starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr; Term of Trial starring Laurence Olivier; Charade, starring Grant and Audrey Hepburn; Far from the Madding Crowd, with Julie Christie and Peter Finch; Nell, with Jodie Foster and Liam Neeson; Marvin’s Room, with Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio and Diane Keaton; and The World Is Not Enough, starring Pierce Brosnan. He also served as a creative consultant on the 1969 classic film Midnight Cowboy.
In 1987 he was nominated for an Oscar, and won a BAFTA, for his work on the film The Mission, starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons. Additionally, he was nominated for BAFTAs for the films Vera Drake and Marathon Man, starring Dustin Hoffman and Olivier.
Clark also contributed to one telefilm, 2002’s The Gathering Storm, starring Albert Finney, Vanessa Redgrave and Jim Broadbent. The television movie won three Emmy Awards, including best made-for-television movie and best actor in a miniseries or movie, and was nominated for six more. The movie followed the relationship of Winston and Clementine Churchill during the onset of World War II.
He got his start as an assistant editor at Ealing Studios in London, where he worked on two films directed by Stanley Donen and edited by Jack Harris. When Harris turned down the chance to edit Donen's 1960 film Surprise Package, Clark was offered the job. He went on to have a career spanning more than 50 years and 40 films.
In 2011, he published his memoir Dream Repairman: Adventures in Film Editing.
Clark died February 25, 2016, in London, England. He was 84.
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