From Sandy MacRae: It was a sad day, Ken’s funeral. Amongst the mourners, there was a large turnout from the Industry Sound Department and this caused me to wonder who was doing the sound that day. Maybe it was a mute day. I had the good fortune to visit Ken a couple of weeks before he died. I was acting ‘Messenger Boy’ on behalf of AMPS, delivering congratulations on his Oscar win. It was a good meeting; Ken was on new painkillers and was comfortable enough to sit and chat for a couple of hours. He was amazingly philosophical about his predicament. His only regret was not being well enough to make the Ceremony but he pointed out that he had been there before for the Evita Nomination so he knew what it was like. He was really chuffed with his Oscar and, to quote the man himself, “What a way to go!” I'd known Ken for quite a few years and he recalled the first series of Poirot where we worked as two crews on alternate episodes. We discovered we had similar ways of working and the same aim - to get the best out of the production. We were two voices in the Production Office saying the same things, supporting each other. It made the difference and he remembered the experience as I did, great for both of us. We consequently became friends and occasionally we met for lunch in town on a Friday with Ivan Sharrock and Richard Daniel. It soon became dubbed ‘The Friday Whinge Club’- what else do four soundmen do when they meet socially! But it was the ‘crack’ we all met for, and Ken was always up for that. That was all too many years ago - I’ll miss him - it will be quieter without him. | From Lionel Strutt: As a Sound Technician Ken was one of the all time greats. His list of credits is phenomenal, with thirty films as Boom Operator commencing with The Eiger Sanction (1975) directed by Clint Eastwood and ending with a Hollywood Oscar Award and Cinema Audio Society Award for Best Sound on Ridley Scott’s epic Gladiator, one of around twenty five major films on which he was Production Mixer. This, in itself, is a fitting tribute to Ken. To achieve this within just twenty five years, is an indication of how prolific a worker he was. Ken notched up around fifty major credits including such marathons as six episodes of the Poirot TV series in 1989, for which he received BAFTA awards. And the numerous long term stints in far away places on such epics as Evita (1996) on location in Buenos Aires and Hungary, with Alan Parker directing. A particularly complex shoot and a challenging task for any Production Sound Mixer. Ken often worked on Alan’s films over the years and they got along famously - Bugsy Malone (1976), Midnight Express (1978), The Wall (1982), The Commitments (1991) and Angela’s Ashes (1999). At other times he was working with Stanley Kubrick as Boom Operator on The Shining (1980), and with Ridley Scott on White Squall (1996) as Production Sound Mixer which was soon followed by the multi award winning Gladiator (2000), also with Ridley. The rest of his credits, though prestigious are too numerous to list. Ken was a founder member of the Association of Motion Picture Sound. Proof of how popular he was came in the mid nineties when an informal meeting tabled ‘An Evening With Ken Weston’ proved to be one of the most well attended and successful gatherings of it’s kind ever held by AMPS! He gave a lot of his time to the Association and also helped many younger members. He was kind, generous and considerate. Not only was he popular amongst his fellow workers but he was also well known for his rather dry brand of humour. Alan Parker shared this and loved working |
