Varney was a past president of the Cinema Audio Society, and in 1990, he received the society’s highest honor – the Career Achievement Award.
Varney worked 30 years as a re-recording mixer and joined Universal Pictures as vice president of sound operations, where he was responsible for the complete remodeling and upgrading of the studio’s sound facilities. He also spent a 14-year stint at Goldwyn Studios as supervising re-recording mixer.
He began his career in radio and television in the early 1950s. His first motion picture was a government-funded project at MIT featuring folk singer Joan Baez, (whose father was a professor of physics there). This film caught the eye of some filmmakers, and before long, he moved to the West Coast. Along with Walter Murch, ACE, MPSE, CAS, he used a 58-page memo from Orson Welles to reconstruct the sound for the DVD re-release of the director’s edition of Touch of Evil in 1998. Among some of Bill’s other credits are: Poltergeist, Gremlins, Grease, My Favorite Year and Ordinary People.
Varney leaves behind his wife, Suzy and daughter, Lisa.
“I recall as very young production sound mixer meeting Bill and finding him to be gracious and welcoming to me,” said past CAS president Edward Moskowitz, CAS. He was incredibly supportive in establishing and strengthening the camaraderie among all the mixers in the CAS.”
