John P. Livadary

John Paul Livadary ( born May 20, 1896 in Istanbul, Turkey, † April 7, 1987 in Balboa Iceland, Newport Beach, California ) was an American sound engineer.

Life

Born in Istanbul, John P. Livadary moved to the United States where he studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1923 and earned a degree in mathematics and electrical engineering. In 1929 he was hired by Columbia Pictures as a sound engineer and as such was henceforth responsible for numerous movies of the studio. These included, among other films by director Frank Capra, like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town ( Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, 1936), as well as film musicals with Columbia's biggest star Rita Hayworth, such as Cover Girl ( Cover Girl, 1944).

Livadary was a total of 17 times for the Oscar nominated in the category Best Sound. For the films One Night of Love ( 1934), The Jazz Singer (The Jolson Story, 1946) and From Here to Eternity ( From Here to Eternity, 1953), he won the Film Award. With four special awards for technical achievements in the years 1938, 1945, 1951 and 1955, he proved to be a pioneer in his field. In 1959 he retired with his long experience as a sound technical director of Columbia Pictures from the film business, and instead was executive director at Everest Records, a former record label specializing in classical music. With the use of 35-mm magnetic tape for multi-channel audio recording, he set new quality standards for the recording industry in the 1960s. He was also a member of the Audio Engineering Society, the Acoustical Society of America, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

He died in 1987 at the age of 90 years on Balboa Iceland, a district of Newport Beach. His grave and the grave of his wife, Helen (1908-2001) are located in the Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona del Mar.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Oscar

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