Donn Cambern


Donn Cambern was an American film editor with more than three dozen feature film credits. His editing of Romancing the Stone was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Film Editing along with fellow editor Frank Morriss, and his editing of Easy Rider has been noted as particularly innovative and influential. He was awarded the American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award in 2004.
Cambern was born in Los Angeles, California, and obtained a B.A. in music from UCLA. Cambern began his career as a music editor for The Andy Griffith Show before moving into film editing. In 1970, he was hired by National General Pictures to direct a state-sponsored documentary about the rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears, but this project was canceled by the US State Department after principal photography was complete. The footage was not aired until the 2023 documentary What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears? which included interviews with Cambern.
Officially credited with editing The Last Picture Show, Cambern's involvement was called into question in the 1999 documentary, The Last Picture Show: A Look Back. In the documentary, Peter Bogdanovich said that after shooting the film, he went back to Los Angeles to edit it on a Moviola. When finished editing the entire picture, he refused to credit himself as editor, reasoning that credits beyond that of director and co-writer would look 'ridiculous'. After being informed that the Motion Picture Editors Guild required crediting an editor, he suggested Donn Cambern who had been editing another film in the next office over and had helped Bogdanovich with some purchasing paperwork. In the documentary, Cybill Shepherd said that when she went to stay with Bogdanovich during that time, it was disappointing because he was too busy editing the film. Cambern disputes this, stating that Bogdanovich did do an edit of the film, which he screened for a selection of guests, including Jack Nicholson, Bob Rafelson and himself. The consensus was the film was going to be great, but needed further editing to achieve its full potential. Bogdanovich invited Cambern to edit the film further and Cambern made significant contributions to the film's final form.
One of Cambern's favorite stories and something for which he is often remembered is the editing of the final sequence of the Robert Wise film The Hindenburg, in which Cambern manages to keep the Hindenburg blowing up for almost 10 minutes when the actual event lasted little more than 37 seconds.
In 2007, Cambern was senior filmmaker-in-residence at the American Film Institute Conservatory. Cambern had been elected as a member of the American Cinema Editors. Cambern had served twice as Vice-President of the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. From 1991-2002, he was President of the Motion Picture Editors Guild.
Cambern was the inaugural recipient of the Guild's Fellowship and Service Award in 2007.
Cambern died of complications from a fall on January 18, 2023, at the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California. He was 93.

Selected filmography

YearFilmDirectorRole
1973Steelyard BluesAlan MyersonSupervising film editor
1973Cinderella LibertyMark RydellSupervising film editor
1993Blood In Blood OutTaylor HackfordAdditional film editor
1997A Thousand AcresJocelyn MoorhouseAdditional editor

YearFilmDirectorCredit
1991Eyes of an AngelRobert HarmonCo-producer

YearFilmDirectorRole
1977The Other Side of MidnightCharles JarrottSecond unit director
1982TempestPaul MazurskySecond unit director: Greece

YearFilmDirectorRole
1998Relax... It's Just SexP. J. CastellanetaThanks
2007The JinnIris GreenSpecial thanks
2009HurtBarbara StepanskySpecial thanks

Documentaries
YearFilmDirector
1969Follow MeGene McCabe
1969A Session with the CommitteeDel Jack

TV movies
YearFilmDirector
1969Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of ChildrenMarc Breaux

YearFilmDirectorRole
1999Boys Will Be BoysDom DeLuiseComposer: Additional music
Music editor

TV series
YearTitleRoleNotes
1961MargieMusic editor1 episode
1965I SpyMusic editor1 episode
1965That GirlMusic editor1 episode
1963−66The Andy Griffith ShowMusic editor70 episodes
1964−66Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.Music editor60 episodes
1968The Ghost & Mrs. MuirMusic editor2 episodes

TV specials
YearFilmDirector
1968The Bob Hope Christmas SpecialMorton Lachman

YearTitleRole
202396th Academy AwardsIn memoriam