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Remembering Star Trek TOS Sound Effects Guru Douglas Grindstaff, 1931-2018

posted by chromas on Tuesday July 31 2018, @03:50AM   Printer-friendly
from the beamed-up-for-the-last-time dept.

martyb writes:

StarTrek.com is saddened to report the passing of Douglas Grindstaff, an Emmy Award-winning sound editor and designer whose many credits included Star Trek: The Original Series. Grindstaff died peacefully in Peoria, Arizona, on July 23, at the age of 87, his family confirmed.

Grindstaff teamed with Joseph Sorokin and Jack Finlay to deliver all of the memorable, often quirky, background sounds and effects viewers heard throughout the run of Star Trek: The Original Series. He did not win an Emmy for his Trek work, but earned a 1967 nomination in the Individual Achievements in Film and Sound Editing category for his efforts. The iconic sounds in which he had a hand included the red alert klaxon, bridge doors opening/closing, heartbeats, sickbay scanners, communicator beeps, phasers firing, transporter materialization/dematerialization, Tribble coos, boatswain whistles, etc.

Over the course of more than half a century, Grindstaff amassed 50-plus film and television credits. Among them were Mission: Impossible, The Brady Bunch, Cross Creek, Max Headroom, Dallas, and Knot’s Landing. He also served in combat as an army sergeant in during the Korean Conflict

A quick search identified http://www.trekcore.com/audio/ for many sound effects from the various Star Trek series.

Anecdote: Not long after The Original Series was off the air, I heard that a guy got pulled over for speeding. Cop, in the usual gravelly, brook-no-nonsense voice says, "License and registration, please." Guy reaches into his pocket, flips open his wallet, and on a lark calls out "Quick Scotty! Beam me up!" Cop laughed. Hard. Lost his composure. So much for the macho persona. Told the guy to slow it down and get out of here. Didn't even get a ticket. I don't know if the story was true or not, but I so wanted to put a micro-switch and speaker in my wallet to mimic that effect for years afterwards!

Thanks, Douglas, for the many memorable sounds that defined the Star Trek experience for me. May you rest in peace.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Freeman on Tuesday July 31 2018, @03:23PM

    by Freeman (732) on Tuesday July 31 2018, @03:23PM (#715213) Journal

    "A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" --Leonard Nimoy

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
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