# Robert Swink

Robert Swink (June 3, 1918 – August 15, 2000) was an American film editor who edited nearly 60 feature films during a career that spanned 46 years.
Born in Rocky Ford, Colorado, Swink and his family moved to Hollywood in 1927. After graduating from North Hollywood High School in 1936, he joined RKO Pictures as an editing apprentice. During World War II, he edited training films for the Army Special Services. His first screen credit was the 1943 comedy short Double Up.
For the next five years, Swink edited mostly B movies until George Stevens hired him for I Remember Mama (1948). He edited several Westerns in 1950, and the following year was hired by William Wyler to work on Detective Story. It was the first of 11 projects on which the two men collaborated. Swink left RKO to join Wyler at Paramount in 1952, and his credits at the studio include Carrie (1952), Roman Holiday (1953), and The Desperate Hours (1955). Among his assistants in this era was Hal Ashby, who became a distinguished editor and director.
In 1964, Swink edited The Best Man for Franklin J. Schaffner. They worked together on four additional films, including Papillon (1973), Islands in the Stream (1977), The Boys from Brazil (1978), and Sphinx (1981). Swink came out of retirement to edit the 1989 film Welcome Home when Schaffner died right after completing principal photography on the project.
Swink worked as a second unit director on The Big Country (1958), The Collector (1965), How to Steal a Million (1966), The Only Game in Town (1970), and The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970).
Swink was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for Roman Holiday (1953), Funny Girl (1968), and The Boys from Brazil (1978). He received the American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award in 1993.
Swink died of a heart attack in Santa Maria, California.

## Selected filmography

Editor :
| Year | Film | Director | Notes |
| 1944 | Passport to Destiny | Ray McCarey | |
| 1944 | Action in Arabia | Léonide Moguy | |
| 1944 | Heavenly Days | Howard Estabrook | |
| 1946 | Step by Step | Phil Rosen | |
| 1946 | Criminal Court | Robert Wise | First collaboration with Robert Wise |
| 1947 | The Devil Thumbs a Ride | Felix E. Feist | |
| 1947 | The Long Night | Anatole Litvak | |
| 1948 | I Remember Mama | George Stevens | First collaboration with George Stevens |
| 1949 | Riders of the Range | Lesley Selander | First collaboration with Lesley Selander |
| 1949 | Adventure in Baltimore | Richard Wallace | |
| 1949 | Make Mine Laughs | Richard Fleischer | First collaboration with Richard Fleischer |
| 1950 | Dynamite Pass | Lew Landers | |
| 1950 | Storm over Wyoming | Lesley Selander | Second collaboration with Lesley Selander |
| 1950 | Rider from Tucson | Lesley Selander | Third collaboration with Lesley Selander |
| 1950 | Never a Dull Moment | George Marshall | |
| 1950 | Double Deal | Abby Berlin | |
| 1951 | The Company She Keeps | John Cromwell | |
| 1951 | Detective Story | William Wyler | First collaboration with William Wyler |
| 1952 | The Captive City | Robert Wise | Second collaboration with Robert Wise |
| 1952 | The Narrow Margin | Richard Fleischer | Second collaboration with Richard Fleischer |
| 1952 | Carrie | William Wyler | Second collaboration with William Wyler |
| 1953 | Roman Holiday | William Wyler | Third collaboration with William Wyler |
| 1954 | Witness to Murder | Roy Rowland | |
| 1955 | Crashout | Lewis R. Foster | |
| 1955 | The Desperate Hours | William Wyler | Fourth collaboration with William Wyler |
| 1956 | Friendly Persuasion | William Wyler | Fifth collaboration with William Wyler |
| 1957 | The Young Stranger | John Frankenheimer | |
| 1959 | The Diary of Anne Frank | George Stevens | Second collaboration with George Stevens |
| 1961 | The Young Doctors | Phil Karlson | |
| 1961 | The Children's Hour | William Wyler | Seventh collaboration with William Wyler |
| 1963 | Captain Sindbad | Byron Haskin | |
| 1964 | The Best Man | Franklin J. Schaffner | First collaboration with Franklin J. Schaffner |
| 1965 | The Collector | William Wyler | Eighth collaboration with William Wyler |
| 1966 | How to Steal a Million | William Wyler | Ninth collaboration with William Wyler |
| 1967 | The Flim-Flam Man | Irvin Kershner | |
| 1968 | Funny Girl | William Wyler | Tenth collaboration with William Wyler |
| 1972 | Skyjacked | John Guillermin | |
| 1973 | Lady Ice | Tom Gries | |
| 1973 | Papillon | Franklin J. Schaffner | Second collaboration with Franklin J. Schaffner |
| 1974 | Three the Hard Way | Gordon Parks Jr. | |
| 1975 | Rooster Cogburn | Stuart Millar | |
| 1976 | Midway | Jack Smight | |
| 1977 | Islands in the Stream | Franklin J. Schaffner | Third collaboration with Franklin J. Schaffner |
| 1978 | Gray Lady Down | David Greene | |
| 1978 | The Boys from Brazil | Franklin J. Schaffner | Fourth collaboration with Franklin J. Schaffner |
| 1979 | The In-Laws | Arthur Hiller | |
| 1979 | Going in Style | Martin Brest | |
| 1981 | Sphinx | Franklin J. Schaffner | Fifth collaboration with Franklin J. Schaffner |
| 1989 | Welcome Home | Franklin J. Schaffner | Sixth collaboration with Franklin J. Schaffner |
Editorial department :
| Year | Film | Director | Role | Notes |
| 1958 | The Big Country | William Wyler | Supervising editor | Sixth collaboration with William Wyler |
| 1968 | Funny Girl | William Wyler | Supervising film editor | |
| 1970 | The Liberation of L.B. Jones | William Wyler | Supervising editor | Eleventh collaboration with William Wyler |
| 1971 | Cactus in the Snow | A. Martin Zweiback | Supervising film editor | |
| 1972 | The Cowboys | Mark Rydell | Supervising film editor | |
| 1982 | And They're Off | Theodore H. Kuhns III | Supervising editor | |
Second unit or assistant director :
| Year | Film | Director | Role | Notes |
| 1958 | The Big Country | William Wyler | Director: Second unit | |
| 1965 | The Collector | William Wyler | Second unit director | |
| 1966 | How to Steal a Million | William Wyler | Second unit director | |
| 1970 | The Only Game in Town | George Stevens | Second unit director | Third collaboration with George Stevens |
| 1970 | The Liberation of L.B. Jones | William Wyler | Second unit director | |

### Shorts

Editor :
| Year | Film | Director |
| 1943 | Double Up | Ben Holmes |
| 1943 | Hold Your Temper | Lloyd French |
| 1943 | Gem-Jams | Lambert Hillyer |
| 1943 | Indian Signs | Charles E. Roberts |
| 1943 | Radio Runaround | Lambert Hillyer |
| 1943 | Hot Foot | Ben Holmes |
| 1943 | Seeing Nellie Home | Ben Holmes |
| 1943 | Cutie on Duty | Ben Holmes |
| 1943 | Unlucky Dog | Ben Holmes |
| 1943 | Wedtime Stories | Ben Holmes |
| 1944 | Prunes and Politics | Ben Holmes |
| 1944 | Say Uncle | Ben Holmes |
| 1944 | Poppa Knows Worst | Ben Holmes |

### TV movies

Second unit or assistant director :
| Year | Film | Director | Role |
| 1971 | In Search of America | Paul Bogart | Second unit director |

### TV series

Editor :
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1952 | Your Jeweler's Showcase | 5 episodes |
| 1956 | Sneak Preview | 1 episode |
| 1965 | Peyton Place | 8 episodes |