Steve Maslow, the acclaimed sound mixer who won Academy Awards for “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Speed,” has died at 81, his friends and family said Tuesday.
Known to friends and colleagues as “Maz,” Maslow died Monday in West Hills following a long battle with cancer, his wife, Ronna Maslow told The Hollywood Reporter.
“I have no words to describe hearing of Steve Maslow’s passing today,” fellow sound mixer Greg P. Russell, himself nominated for 17 Oscars, wrote Tuesday on Instagram. “We lost one of the best of the best and so many who loved him are heart broken today. We’ll miss you buddy and thanks for all the memories.”
Maslow was also nominated for sound mixing on the 1984 film “Dune,” “Waterworld” in 1995, the 1996 hit “Twister” and the 2000 submarine thriller “U-571.” His career spanned more than 200 films, nearly half of them alongside mixer Grand Landaker, a partnership that began with “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” in 1979. The duo shared all of Maslow’s Oscars except “Dune.”
Maslow, an expert mixer of dialogue and music, collaborated with a wide range of directors, including on several films with John Carpenter (“Escape From New York,” “The Thing,” “Starman” and more) and Tim Burton (“Beetlejuice,” “Edward Scissorhands” and “Batman Returns”).
His work with George Lucas won him back-to-back Oscars with “Empire” and “Raiders,” but his work transcended filmmaking styles and genres, with credits on “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
Maslow first got into sound as a roadie for the ’60s psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock, and worked as a recording engineer for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and other notable groups before turning to sound mixing for film.
Survivors include his wife, son Travis and a granddaughter.
