Douglas Shearer

Douglas Shearer ( born November 17 1899 in Westmount, Canada, † January 5, 1971 in Culver City, California, USA ) was one of the most important engineer of the U.S. film industry.

Life

Douglas Shearer, who had studied engineering, came during a visit to his sister, the Hollywood star Norma Shearer, in contact with the technicians of their studio MGM, where he was initially responsible for the technical maintenance of cameras and projectors.

During the transition from silent films to talkies, he assumed responsibility for the newly created sound department, where he quickly became one of the most innovative engineers throughout the industry. Douglas Shearer developed include a method, where the soundtrack was copied directly to the movie track, which greatly improved the recording technique.

In his 40 years at MGM, he won a total of 12 Oscars and was constantly involved in the development of recording technology and microphone technique.