British film editor (Hugh) Russell Lloyd died 21 January 2008. Born in Swansea, Glamorgan, on 16 January 1916, he was John Huston’s film editor, and nominated for an Academy Award in 1975 (for The Man Who Would Be King).
He was obsessed with film from his youth, and, after working as a projectionist for a year, managed to convince London Films to hire him as a “numbering boy” in the editing room. He would later say “You could imagine my dismay—my chance of being that great cameraman destroyed! However, I’ve never since regretted that twist of fate.” His first editing credit was for The Green Cockatoo (1937), after assisting on several films in 1935 and 1936.
Lloyd volunteered for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve when World War II began, and was on active duty at sea when the Crown Film Unit brought him back to edit a documentary on submarines called Close Quarters (1943), which led to his producing, directing, and writing A Harbour Goes to France (1944) for the Army Film Unit. After the war, he went back to commercial film work.
In 1956, John Huston was prepping Moby Dick for Warner Bros (starring Gregory Peck as Ahab), but his regular editor was working for another film company at the time. Lloyd was an admirer of Huston’s work, and found out that Huston was shooting whale tests prior to principle photography. As the Independent says, “Lloyd visited Huston in Milford Haven in order to apply for the editing job. They met, clicked, entered into long, ecstatic discussions, and then Huston said simply, ‘Let’s get started.'” Their relationship continued through 11 films.
Lloyd’s only genre work was the film Blood Link (1982).