---
name: "William Hornbeck"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/william-hornbeck"
fi1m_id: "william-hornbeck"
imdb_id: "nm0394962"
tmdb_id: 17762
wikidata_id: "Q460045"
roles: ["Editor"]
born: "23 August 1901"
died: "11 October 1983"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 7
average_fi1m_score: 80
average_over: 7
updated: "2026-09-25T06:42:22.847585+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."
---

# William Hornbeck

## Identity

William Hornbeck

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/william-hornbeck
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** william-hornbeck
- **IMDb ID:** nm0394962
- **TMDB ID:** 17762
- **Wikidata ID:** Q460045
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hornbeck, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q460045, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0394962/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/17762

Editor. Born 23 August 1901 in Los Angeles, California, USA. Died 11 October 1983.

## Details

- **Work:** Editor
- **Born:** 23 August 1901, Los Angeles, California, USA
- **Died:** 11 October 1983
- **Active:** 1936–1956
- **Also known as:** W. Hornbeck, William W. Hornbeck, Wm. Hornbeck
- **Frequently works with:** [George Stevens](https://film.one/person/george-stevens.md), [Elizabeth Taylor](https://film.one/person/elizabeth-taylor-3635.md), [Montgomery Clift](https://film.one/person/montgomery-clift.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 3 nominated)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 65 (1), 1940s 90 (2), 1950s 78 (4)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 80 to 74 across 7 titles
- **Score spread:** 4 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 7, Romance 2, Western 2, Crime 1, Family 1, Fantasy 1
- **Screen time:** 15 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $78m across 6 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hornbeck, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q460045, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0394962/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/17762

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*It's a Wonderful Life*](https://film.one/film/its-a-wonderful-life.md) (91), [*The Barefoot Contessa*](https://film.one/film/the-barefoot-contessa.md) (74)
- **Apple TV:** [*Shane*](https://film.one/film/shane.md) (83)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

William Hornbeck (1901–1983) was an American film editor. He began his career in his teens as a laboratory assistant and editor at Mack Sennett’s Keystone studios in Los Angeles, later becoming head of the editing department for Sennett comedies.

In 1934 he moved to England as supervising editor for Alexander Korda’s London Films, working on titles including *The Scarlet Pimpernel* (1934), *Things to Come* (1936) and *The Thief of Bagdad* (1940). During the Second World War he served in the US Army Signal Corps, editing the *Why We Fight* documentary series under Frank Capra. After the war he edited Capra’s *It's a Wonderful Life* (1946) and went on to cut *A Place in the Sun* (1951), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, *Shane* (1953), *Giant* (1956) and *I Want to Live!* (1958).

From 1960 he held senior editorial and executive positions at Universal Pictures until his retirement in 1976. In 1977 a poll of film editors named him the best the industry had produced; he was also an original member of the American Cinema Editors.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, encyclopedia.com, catalog.afi.com.*

## On Fi1m (7)

- *Giant* (1956), Fi1m 74, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/giant-1956.md)
- *The Barefoot Contessa* (1954), Fi1m 74, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/the-barefoot-contessa.md)
- *Shane* (1953), Fi1m 83, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/shane.md)
- *A Place in the Sun* (1951), Fi1m 81, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/a-place-in-the-sun.md)
- *The Heiress* (1949), Fi1m 90, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/the-heiress.md)
- *It's a Wonderful Life* (1946), Fi1m 91, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/its-a-wonderful-life.md)
- *Things to Come* (1936), Fi1m 65, Supervising Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/things-to-come-1936.md)

## Complete filmography (86)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Suddenly, Last Summer* (1959), Editor, Editorial Consultant
- *A Hole in the Head* (1959), Editor
- *I Want to Live!* (1958), Editor
- *The Quiet American* (1958), Editor
- *Giant* (1956), Editor — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/giant-1956.md)
- *The Girl Rush* (1955), Editor
- *The Barefoot Contessa* (1954), Editor — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-barefoot-contessa.md)
- *Act of Love* (1953), Editor
- *Shane* (1953), Editor — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/shane.md)
- *Something to Live For* (1952), Editor
- *A Place in the Sun* (1951), Editor — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/a-place-in-the-sun.md)
- *Riding High* (1950), Editor
- *The Heiress* (1949), Editor — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/the-heiress.md)
- *State of the Union* (1948), Editor
- *Singapore* (1947), Editor
- *It's a Wonderful Life* (1946), Editor — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/its-a-wonderful-life.md)
- *Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia* (1943), Editor
- *Why We Fight: Divide and Conquer* (1943), Editor
- *Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike* (1943), Editor
- *Why We Fight: Prelude to War* (1942), Editor
- *Jungle Book* (1942), Supervising Editor
- *Lydia* (1941), Supervising Editor
- *That Hamilton Woman* (1941), Supervising Editor
- *The Thief of Bagdad* (1940), Supervising Editor
- *21 Days* (1940), Supervising Editor
- *The Spy in Black* (1939), Supervising Film Editor
- *Elephant Boy* (1937), Supervising Editor
- *Storm in a Teacup* (1937), Supervising Editor
- *Men Are Not Gods* (1936), Supervising Editor
- *Rembrandt* (1936), Supervising Editor
- *The Man Who Could Work Miracles* (1936), Supervising Editor
- *Things to Come* (1936), Supervising Editor — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/things-to-come-1936.md)
- *The Ghost Goes West* (1935), Supervising Editor
- *Sanders of the River* (1935), Supervising Editor
- *The Scarlet Pimpernel* (1934), Editor
- *The Candid Camera* (1932), Editor
- *Dream House* (1932), Editor
- *The Great Pie Mystery* (1931), Editor
- *Poker Widows* (1931), Editor
- *Ghost Parade* (1931), Editor
- *In Conference* (1931), Editor
- *The Bride's Mistake* (1931), Editor
- *Midnight Daddies* (1930), Editor
- *The Bluffer* (1930), Editor
- *The Bees' Buzz* (1929), Editor
- *Matchmaking Mamma* (1929), Editor
- *Ladies Must Eat* (1929), Editor
- *The Lion's Roar* (1928), Editor
- *The Campus Vamp* (1928), Editor
- *Hubby's Weekend Trip* (1928), Editor
- *Motorboat Mamas* (1928), Editor
- *The Campus Carmen* (1928), Editor
- *Taxi for Two* (1928), Editor
- *Smith's Army Life* (1928), Editor
- *Run, Girl, Run* (1928), Editor
- *Fiddlesticks* (1927), Editor
- *The Pride of Pikeville* (1927), Editor
- *Broke in China* (1927), Editor
- *Hoboken to Hollywood* (1926), Editor
- *Hubby’s Quiet Little Game* (1926), Editor
- *A Sea Dog's Tale* (1926), Editor
- *Ice Cold Cocos* (1926), Editor
- *Musclebound Music* (1926), Editor
- *Circus Today* (1926), Editor
- *Saturday Afternoon* (1926), Editor
- *Whispering Whiskers* (1926), Editor
- *The Gosh-Darn Mortgage* (1926), Editor
- *A Rainy Knight* (1925), Editor
- *Butter Fingers* (1925), Editor
- *Cold Turkey* (1925), Editor
- *Lucky Stars* (1925), Editor
- *Super-Hooper-Dyne Lizzies* (1925), Editor
- *He Who Gets Smacked* (1925), Editor
- *Bashful Jim* (1925), Editor
- *His Marriage Wow* (1925), Editor
- *Water Wagons* (1925), Editor
- *Boobs in the Wood* (1925), Editor
- *Bull and Sand* (1924), Editor
- *Galloping Bungalows* (1924), Editor
- *The Hansom Cabman* (1924), Editor
- *Lizzies of the Field* (1924), Editor
- *Romeo and Juliet* (1924), Editor
- *His New Mamma* (1924), Editor
- *The Cat's Meow* (1924), Editor
- *Black Oxfords* (1924), Editor
- *The Hollywood Kid* (1924), Editor

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 3 nominated

- 1959: Best Film Editing (nominated), for *I Want to Live!*
- 1957: Best Film Editing (nominated), for *Giant*
- 1952: Best Film Editing (won), for *A Place in the Sun*
- 1947: Best Film Editing (nominated), for *It's a Wonderful Life*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© 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/william-hornbeck