Edward Curtiss(1898-1970)

Born and raised in Los Angeles by mid-continent parents, Edward Curtiss "broke in to" the motion picture business, circa 1921, as an early-aviation, "barn-storming" pilot and wing-walking stunt-man, flying out of the old Western Avenue and "Mines" Field airports, among others. While doing stunt work on a picture directed by Howard Hawks, Curtiss made suggestions to Hawks concerning the continuity and choreography of the scene shooting. Hawks was so impressed that he arranged for Curtiss to try his hand as a Film Editor. The rest is history. His early works in such classics as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Lon Chaney), Scarface (Paul Muni), and Come and Get It are representative of his accomplishments and contributions to the motion picture industry during his lengthy career as an Film Editor, which spanned five (5) decades. For his work on Come and Get it, he was nominated for an Academy Award. As a result, he was interviewed and written-up in a lengthy article in the (then) New York Herald-Tribune newspaper. A hiatus in Curtiss's filmography will be noted in 1937. It was during this period that Curtiss went to London and worked on a number of pictures there. Unfortunately, this author has no record or knowledge of the studio where he worked nor of the titles of the pictures. Curtiss spent the major portion of his career at Universal International and retired in 1961. He spent his remaining years living in North Hollywood, enjoying the good life and spending time with his family.