RIP David Lewis Yewdall

It is with a very heavy heart that we report the passing of David Yewdall, who died Tuesday, July 4th, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 66 years old.

Yewdall was the sound editor on films such as Escape from New York, The Thing, Twilight Zone: The Movie, and The Fifth Element. He also worked on Return of the Living Dead III, Halloween 5, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, and Evil Dead II.

Steve Lee, a friend and fellow sound man, told Deadline, “The Thing is arguably his masterpiece. All those frightening creature sounds he created are just fantastic, and just as scary today as they were when the film opened 35 years ago — almost to the week.”

On top of his work in the sound world, Yewdall was also a teacher and an author whose book Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound was released in 1999 and has had four editions since then. Yewdall was working on the fifth edition at the time of his death.

We send our deepest condolences to David’s family and friends during this very sad time.


YEWDALL, David Lewis
Born: 10/30/1950, U.S.A.
Died: 7/4/2017, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.A.

David Lewis Yewdall’s westerns – supervisor sound editor, sound effects designer:
Lone Wolf McQuade – 1983 (sound effects designer)
Fran & Jesse – 1995 (supervisor sound editor)