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Ferris Webster

Ferris Webster

Known For Editing
Birthday Apr 29, 1912
Died Feb 04, 1989 (76)
Birthplace Walla Walla, Washington, USA
Popularity 0.7 (history)
Updated Aug 09, 2025 (Update)
Entry Date Aug 09, 2025
Links TMDb IMDb
Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ferris Webster (April 29, 1912 – February 4, 1989) was an American film editor with approximately seventy-two film credits. He was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Film Editing for his work on Blackboard Jungle (1955), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and ... The Great Escape (1963). Webster was raised in the state of Washington, and was a student at the University of Southern California, where he was an outstanding track and field athlete. He was trained as an editor at the MGM Studios, and received his first feature-film credit in 1943 for Harrigan's Kid. At MGM, Webster edited six films with director Vincente Minnelli: Undercurrent (1946), Madame Bovary (1949), Father of the Bride (1950), Father's Little Dividend (1951), The Long, Long Trailer (1954), and Tea and Sympathy (1956). Film critic Bruce Eder has written of Madame Bovay that, "the cutting of the film in the gala ball sequence, in particular, was a marvel of the editor's art in the service of old Hollywood's restrained, elegant storytelling." In the mid-1950s, he edited three films with director Richard Brooks: Blackboard Jungle (1955), Something of Value (1957), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958); Webster received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Blackboard Jungle. His last film at MGM was Key Witness (1960). Bruce Eder has written, "If ever a film editor deserved public recognition in the 1960s, it was Ferris Webster." Webster edited the three films of director John Frankenheimer's "paranoia trilogy": The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Seven Days in May (1964), and Seconds (1966). Eder writes that The Manchurian Candidate was "the editor's magnum opus. The shooting, cutting, and intercutting of one extended brainwashing sequence, seen from multiple points-of-view, is still striking decades later, and the movie earned Webster his second Academy Award nomination." Frankenheimer cast Webster in his only appearance as a film actor, as Air Force Gen. Bernard "Barney" Rutkowski in Seven Days in May. Webster was nominated for an Academy Award for the editing of The Great Escape (1963), which was directed by John Sturges. Webster and Sturges' notable collaboration included fifteen films between 1950 and 1972, which is about half of Sturges' films in that period. It started with The Magnificent Yankee and Mystery Street (1950), and included The Law and Jake Wade (1958), The Magnificent Seven (1960), and Ice Station Zebra (1968). The final film of their collaboration was Joe Kidd (1972), which was near the end of Sturges' career. Joe Kidd starred Clint Eastwood. In the last phase of his career, Webster edited and co-edited eight films that were directed by Eastwood, starting with High Plains Drifter (1973), which was Eastwood's second film as a director. Webster edited Breezy (1973), The Eiger Sanction (1975), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), The Gauntlet (1977), Bronco Billy (1980), Firefox (1982) and Honkytonk Man (both 1982). These latter two films with Eastwood concluded Webster's career as an editor, apparently after a falling-out between the two men. Additional credits include The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), Lili (1953), Forbidden Planet (1956), Les Girls (1957), Divorce American Style (1967).

Known For

Filmography

Seven Days in May

Seven Days in May

1964

as Gen. Bernard "Barney" Rutkowski (uncredited)

Firefox

Firefox

1982

Editor

Honkytonk Man

Honkytonk Man

1982

Editor

Bronco Billy

Bronco Billy

1980

Editor

Escape from Alcatraz

Escape from Alcatraz

1979

Editor

The Gauntlet

The Gauntlet

1977

Editor

The Enforcer

The Enforcer

1976

Editor

The Eiger Sanction

The Eiger Sanction

1975

Editor

Magnum Force

Magnum Force

1973

Editor

High Plains Drifter

High Plains Drifter

1973

Editor

Breezy

Breezy

1973

Editor

Joe Kidd

Joe Kidd

1972

Editor

My Old Man's Place

My Old Man's Place

1971

Editor

The Organization

The Organization

1971

Editor

Zig Zag

Zig Zag

1970

Editor

Ice Station Zebra

Ice Station Zebra

1968

Editor

Hour of the Gun

Hour of the Gun

1967

Editor

Seconds

Seconds

1966

Editor

The Hallelujah Trail

The Hallelujah Trail

1965

Editor

The Satan Bug

The Satan Bug

1965

Editor

Seven Days in May

Seven Days in May

1964

Editor

The Great Escape

The Great Escape

1963

Editor

Sergeants 3

Sergeants 3

1962

Editor

By Love Possessed

By Love Possessed

1961

Editor

A Thunder of Drums

A Thunder of Drums

1961

Editor

The Magnificent Seven

The Magnificent Seven

1960

Editor

Never So Few

Never So Few

1959

Editor

Green Mansions

Green Mansions

1959

Editor

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

1958

Editor

Les Girls

Les Girls

1957

Editor

Something of Value

Something of Value

1957

Editor

Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet

1956

Editor

The Fastest Gun Alive

The Fastest Gun Alive

1956

Editor

Tea and Sympathy

Tea and Sympathy

1956

Editor

Ransom!

Ransom!

1956

Editor

Blackboard Jungle

Blackboard Jungle

1955

Editor

Scandal at Scourie

Scandal at Scourie

1953

Editor

Lili

Lili

1953

Editor

The Girl in White

The Girl in White

1952

Editor

Lone Star

Lone Star

1952

Editor

Kind Lady

Kind Lady

1951

Editor

Father of the Bride

Father of the Bride

1950

Editor

Mystery Street

Mystery Street

1950

Editor

Please Believe Me

Please Believe Me

1950

Editor

Madame Bovary

Madame Bovary

1949

Editor

On an Island with You

On an Island with You

1948

Editor

Living in a Big Way

Living in a Big Way

1947

Editor

Undercurrent

Undercurrent

1946

Editor

The Hoodlum Saint

The Hoodlum Saint

1946

Editor

Dangerous Partners

Dangerous Partners

1945

Editor

Rationing

Rationing

1944

Editor

Swing Fever

Swing Fever

1943

Editor

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Organization Category Movie
Television Credits

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2024 12 1 3 1
2025 1 3 8 1
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