Steve Maslow, the Oscar-winning re-recording mixer behind films like The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Speed, has died.
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The Cinema Audio Society confirmed to Deadline that the 81-year-old died of cancer on April 27 in West Hills, California.
Maslow received back-to-back Academy Awards for The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and another for the Keanu Reeves-Sandra Bullock action film Speed (1994). He also earned Oscar nominations for Dune (1984), Waterworld (1995), Twister (1996), and U-571 (2000).
Aside from his Oscar-nominated work, Maslow had a prolific career with hundreds of credits to his name. According to IMDb, his filmography includes classics such as More American Graffiti, 10, and the Best Picture Oscar winner Ordinary People. He also worked on iconic films like Poltergeist, Airplane II: The Sequel, Christine, Starman, Gremlins, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Children of a Lesser God, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, and Mad Max: Fury Road.
Maslow also made a significant impact on music-related films. He worked as a re-recording mixer on Martin Scorsese’s 1978 documentary The Last Waltz, about The Band. His other credits in the genre include work with some of music’s biggest names on films like The Who’s The Kids Are Alright, Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps, Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense, and Prince’s Sign o’ the Times. He also worked on the Jerry Lee Lewis biopic Great Balls of Fire and the musical Little Shop of Horrors.
Steve Maslow Also Enjoyed an Impressive Career in the Music Industry
Maslow was born in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley on October 17, 1944. Per Deadline, while in college, a friend from the band Strawberry Alarm Clock, known for their hit “Incense and Peppermints,” offered him a job, launching his career in sound.
Maslow soon quit school to enter the music business, becoming a recording engineer. His credits include the Four Seasons’ 1976 chart-topper “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” and A Taste of Honey’s “Boogie Oogie Oogie.” The success of “Boogie Oogie Oogie” helped the disco group win the Best New Artist Grammy, beating out fellow nominees The Cars, Elvis Costello, and Toto.
In addition to Scorsese, Maslow worked with a host of top filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Robert Redford, John Carpenter, Tim Burton, Robert Wise, John Hughes, and Blake Edwards.
Maslow is survived by his wife, Ronna, and his son, Travis.