---
name: "Tom Priestley"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/tom-priestley"
roles: ["Editor"]
born: "22 April 1932"
died: "25 December 2023"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T14:21:09.714681+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Tom Priestley

Editor. Born 22 April 1932 in London, England, UK. Died 25 December 2023.

## Details

- **Work:** Editor
- **Born:** 22 April 1932, London, England, UK
- **Died:** 25 December 2023

## Biography

Tom Priestley (1932–2023) was a British film editor whose career spanned from the early 1960s to 1990. He worked as editor or supervising editor on numerous feature films, including *Deliverance* (1972), *The Great Gatsby* (1974), *The Return of the Pink Panther* (1975), *Voyage of the Damned* (1976), *Exorcist II: The Heretic* (1977), *Tess* (1979) and *Nineteen Eighty-Four* (1984).

Born Thomas Holland Priestley in London, he was the son of novelist and playwright J. B. Priestley. He was educated at Bryanston School and King's College, Cambridge, where he read Classics and English. After starting at Shepperton Studios as an assistant sound editor, he became a full editor on *Unearthly Stranger* (1963) and later gained recognition for his work with directors such as Karel Reisz, Lindsay Anderson, John Boorman and Roman Polanski. He won a BAFTA for editing *Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment* (1966) and received an Academy Award nomination for *Deliverance*.

In later years Priestley lectured on film editing and managed aspects of his father’s literary estate, serving as president of the J. B. Priestley Society.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, thetimes.com, telegraph.co.uk, theguardian.com, hollywoodreporter.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Exorcist II: The Heretic* (1977), Fi1m 38, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/exorcist-ii-the-heretic.md)

## Also known for

- *Deliverance* (1972), Editor
- *Nineteen Eighty-Four* (1984), Editor
- *The Return of the Pink Panther* (1975), Editor
- *The Great Gatsby* (1974), Editor
- *Tess* (1979), Editor
- *O Lucky Man!* (1973), Supervising Editor
- *Voyage of the Damned* (1976), Editor
- *White Mischief* (1987), Editor

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/tom-priestley