Anne V. Coates
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Anne Voase Coates (12 December 1925 – 8 May 2018) was a British
film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...
with a more than 60-year-long career. She was perhaps best known as the editor of
David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor, widely considered one of the most important figures of Cinema of the United Kingdom, British cinema. He directed the large-scale epi ...
's
epic film Epic films have large scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The term is slightly ambiguous, sometimes designating a film genre and at other times simply big-budget films. Like epics in the classical literary sense, it is often focused on a her ...
'' Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962), for which she won the
Academy Award for Best Film Editing The Academy Award for Best Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. For 33 consecutive year ...
. Coates was also
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
-nominated for '' Becket'' (1963), ''
The Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890) was an English man known for his severe physical deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "The Elephant Man", and then went to live at the London Hospital, ...
'' (1980), '' In the Line of Fire'' (1993) and ''
Out of Sight ''Out of Sight'' is a 1998 American action comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Scott Frank, adapted from Elmore Leonard's 1996 novel. The first of several collaborations between Soderbergh and actor George Clooney, it was ...
'' (1998).


Early life and education

Coates was born in
Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...
, Surrey, England, the daughter of Kathleen Voase (née Rank) and Major Laurence Calvert Coates. Her first passion was horses. As a girl, she thought she might become a race-horse trainer. Murch, Walter (2000)
"Walter Murch interviews Anne V. Coates"
webpage originally posted at the editorsnet.com website; webpage archived at WebCite on 2008-07-07 fro

Coates attended the
Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...
village school called the Micklefield School. She then attended High Trees School in
Horley Horley is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England, south of the towns of Reigate and Redhill. The county border with West Sussex is to the south with Crawley and Gatwick Airport close to the town. It has its own econ ...
(
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
). Her final school was Bartrum Gables in Broadstairs (
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
). Before becoming a film editor, she worked as a nurse at Sir Archibald McIndoe's pioneering plastic surgery hospital in East Grinstead, England.Erickson, Hal (undated)
"Anne V. Coates"
webpage from ''Allrovi Guide''; online version retrieved 7 July 2008.


Career

Coates became interested in cinema after seeing ''
Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...
'' (1939) directed by
William Wyler William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a German-born American film director and producer. Known for his work in numerous genres over five decades, he received numerous awards and accolades, including three Aca ...
. She decided to pursue film directing and started working as an assistant at a production company specializing in religious films (also doing projectionist and sound recording work). There she fixed film prints of religious short films before sending them to various British church tours. This splicing work eventually led to the rare job as an assistant film editor at
Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...
, where she worked on various films. Her first experience was assisting for film editor Reggie Mills. Coates later worked with film director David Lean on '' Lawrence of Arabia''. She had a long and varied career, and continued to edit films, including ''
Out of Sight ''Out of Sight'' is a 1998 American action comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Scott Frank, adapted from Elmore Leonard's 1996 novel. The first of several collaborations between Soderbergh and actor George Clooney, it was ...
'' and ''
Erin Brockovich Erin Brockovich (née Pattee; born June 22, 1960) is an American paralegal, consumer advocate, and environmental activist who was instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) involving groundwater contamination ...
'' (both for
Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh ( ; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. A pioneer of modern Independent film, independent cinema, Soderbergh later drew acclaim for formally inventiv ...
). Coates was a member of both the Guild of British Film and Television Editors (GBFTE) and
American Cinema Editors Founded in 1950, American Cinema Editors (ACE) is an honorary society of film editing, film editors who are voted in based on the qualities of professional achievements, their education of others, and their dedication to editing. Members use the ...
(ACE). ''Variety''s Eileen Kowalski noted "many of the editorial greats have been women:
Margaret Booth Margaret Booth (January 16, 1898 – October 28, 2002) was an American film editor. In a career lasting seven decades, Booth was most associated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Born in Los Angeles, Margaret was the younger sister of actor E ...
, Dede Allen, Verna Fields,
Thelma Schoonmaker Thelma Schoonmaker (; born January 3, 1940) is an American film editor, best known for her collaboration over five decades with director Martin Scorsese. She has received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and ...
, Anne V. Coates and
Dorothy Spencer Dorothy Spencer (February 3, 1909 – May 23, 2002), known as Dot Spencer, was an American film editor with 75 feature film credits from a career that spanned more than 50 years. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing on four o ...
."Eileen Kowalski
Profile
''Variety'', 14 November 2001.


Personal life


Marriage and family

Coates was at the centre of a film industry family. Besides being the niece of J. Arthur Rank, she was married to the director Douglas Hickox for many years. Her brother, John Coates, was a producer (''The Snowman'' and ''Yellow Submarine''). Her sons, Anthony Hickox (1959-2023) and James Hickox (b. 1965) were film directors. Her daughter Emma E. Hickox (b. 1964) is a film editor.


Death

Coates died on 8 May 2018, aged 92, at the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States.


Filmography


Film


Television


Style and recognition

In an industry where women accounted for only 16 per cent of all editors working on the top 250 films of 2004, and 80 per cent of the films had absolutely no women on their editing teams at all, Coates thrived as a top film editor. British Independent Film Awards – (BIFA)
She was awarded BAFTA's highest honour, a
BAFTA Fellowship The BAFTA Fellowship, or the Academy Fellowship, is a lifetime achievement award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in recognition of "outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image". The award is t ...
, in February 2007 "BAFTA crowns 'Queen' best film" 11 February 2007 – Variety (subscription)
/ref> and was given an
Academy Honorary Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Mot ...
, which are popularly known as a Lifetime Achievement Oscar, in November 2016 by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...
. Over the course of her career she has stated her style as being: * "In a way, I've never looked at myself as a woman in the business. I've just looked at myself as an editor. I mean, I'm sure I've been turned down because I'm a woman, but then other times I've been used because they wanted a woman editor." * "...I guess I've been lucky that most of the time I've been in the same direction as the director. I try to work with directors whose work I like and find interesting. When I was younger, I had to find work where I could, and I had some not great experiences with directors." * "You have the courage of your convictions. When you're editing you have to make thousands of decisions every day and if you dither over them all the time, you'll never get anything done."Coates, Anne V. (2007)
"Things I've Learned As A Moviemaker"
, article posted on 3 February 2007 at ''MovieMaker'' website retrieved 7 July 2008.
* "I seem to get the rhythm from the performances. I like to feel I'm very much an actor's editor. I look very much to the performances and cut very much for performances rather than the action. I think that's important, what's in the eyes of the actor."


Awards and nominations

* 1997: Women in Film Crystal Award, International Award * 1999:
Online Film Critics Society Award The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) is an international professional association of online film journalists, historians and scholars who publish their work on the World Wide Web. The organization was founded in January 1997 by Harvey S. Karten ...
, Best Film Editing (nominee) for ''
Out of Sight ''Out of Sight'' is a 1998 American action comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Scott Frank, adapted from Elmore Leonard's 1996 novel. The first of several collaborations between Soderbergh and actor George Clooney, it was ...
'' * 2012:
Motion Picture Editors Guild The Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG; IATSE Local 700) is the guild that represents freelance and staff motion picture and television editors and other post-production professionals and story analysts throughout the United States. The Motion Pi ...
, best edited films of all time for ''Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962) and ''Out of Sight'' (1998)


References


External links

* *
Anne V. Coates credits – AMCTV.com Biography




* ttps://womenfilmeditors.princeton.edu/coates-anne-v/ Anne V. Coateson ''Women Film Editors'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Coates, Anne V. 1925 births 2018 deaths Academy Honorary Award recipients American Cinema Editors English film editors Best Film Editing Academy Award winners People from Reigate BAFTA fellows Officers of the Order of the British Empire British women film editors Hickox family