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Irvine "Cotton" Eugene Warburton (October 8, 1911 – June 21, 1982) was an American college football quarterback (1933) who became a film and television editor with sixty feature film credits. Paid online access. Associated Press obituary from June 21, 1982, and published by the ''New York Times'' on June 22. He worked for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and for the Walt Disney Studios, and is probably best known for his
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
-winning editing of ''
Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...
'' (1964).


Biography

Warburton was born in 1911, in
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, to Margaret Warburton. His siblings were Leland S., Los Angeles City Council member in 1945–53; Milton, Lawrence and David.


Career in sports

Warburton attended
San Diego High School San Diego High School (SDHS) is an urban public high school located on the southern edge of Balboa Park, San Diego, California, Balboa Park in San Diego, California, United States. It is the oldest high school in the San Diego Unified School Dist ...
, and won the California high school 440-yard dash in 1930. He brought his speed to the
USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...
football team, and was chosen as an
All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
quarterback in 1933. Warburton was the quarterback during a winning streak that lasted for 27 games, which remained unsurpassed at USC until 1980. Cotton was elected to the
College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...
in 1975. Warburton's teammate Aaron Rosenberg was also elected to the Hall of Fame, and also had a successful career in the film industry as a director and producer.


Hollywood career

Following his graduation from the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
in 1934, Warburton declined an offer to become a professional football player with the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
. He became an assistant
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 ...
at Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Studios, where he remained for 19 years. As was common in the studio era, his first editing credit came after about eight years with the studio, and was for the
Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...
film '' Air Raid Wardens'' (1943). He was nominated for 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 ...
for '' Crazylegs'' (1953), a film about
Elroy Hirsch Elroy Leon "Crazylegs" Hirsch (June 17, 1923 – January 28, 2004) was an American professional American football, football player, sport executive and actor. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football H ...
's football career; Robert Niemi has suggested that the nomination acknowledged Warburton's success in "weaving documentary footage of Hirsch on the playing field into the film proper." Shortly after this film, Warburton left MGM. By 1956 Warburton was an editor for the Walt Disney Studios, where he remained for the rest of his career. His first Disney film credit was '' Westward Ho, the Wagons!'' (1956). About 1960, he began a fruitful collaboration on feature films with Disney director Robert Stevenson. Their first film was ''
The Absent-Minded Professor ''The Absent-Minded Professor'' is a 1961 American science fiction comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney Productions. It is based on the 1943 short story "A Situation of Gravity" (May 22, 1943 ''Liberty'') by ...
'' (1961). At the
37th Academy Awards The 37th Academy Awards were held on April 5, 1965, to honor film achievements of 1964. The ceremony was produced by MGM's Joe Pasternak and hosted, for the 14th time, by Bob Hope. The Best Picture winner, George Cukor's ''My Fair Lady'', w ...
, he won for best film editing for the "spectacularly successful" ''
Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...
'' (1964), which also earned Stevenson an Oscar nomination as best director. He also won for best film editor at the 15th American Cinema Editors Awards. Critic Drew Casper particularly notes Warburton's editing of the film's "chimney pot" musical sequence (see clip to the right). In total, Stevenson and Warburton collaborated on nine films in the 1960s and 1970s; their last film together was ''
Herbie Rides Again ''Herbie Rides Again'' is a 1974 American comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Bill Walsh, based on a story by Gordon Buford. The film is the second installment in the ''Herbie'' film series and the sequel to ''The L ...
'' (1974). Warburton retired from editing after '' The Cat from Outer Space'' (1978), a Disney film directed by
Norman Tokar Norman Tokar (November 25, 1919 – April 6, 1979) was an American film director, director, actor and occasionally writer and producer of serial television and feature films, who directed many of the early episodes of ''Leave it to Beaver'', and ...
. Warburton was a member of the
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 ...
.Members are often credited with the designation A.C.E.; for Warburton, see


See also

* List of film director and editor collaborations


References


Further reading

* Comment about Warburton by
Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 12th-greatest male ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Warburton, Cotton 1911 births 1982 deaths All-American college football players American film editors American Cinema Editors American football quarterbacks USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Best Film Editing Academy Award winners College Football Hall of Fame inductees Players of American football from San Diego USC Trojans football players San Diego High School alumni