Toby Yates, the son of acclaimed director-producer Peter Yates, passed away at the age of 61 after a successful 40-year career as a film editor in Hollywood, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Throughout his career, Yates collaborated frequently with filmmaker Karen Moncrieff, lending his editing skills to her debut film ‘Blue Car,’ as well as ‘The Dead Girl’ and ‘The Trials of Cate McCall.’ He also worked on ‘The Moon and the Stars’ for director John Irvin, earning him the prestigious best editor award at the Milano International Film Festival.
Additionally, he contributed to ‘The Midnight Meat Train’ and ‘No One Lives’ under the direction of Ryuhei Kitamura. His most recent project was editing Damian Harris’s film ‘Brave the Dark.’ Toby Robert Quentin Yates was born in London on September 18, 1962, and grew up between London and New York City.
During his high school years, he immersed himself in the art of filmmaking and editing, starting as an apprentice editor and later becoming an assistant editor for Roy Lovejoy, known for his work on ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ and ‘Aliens.’ After graduating from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, Yates pursued film studies at Columbia University School of Arts.
He was honored with the inaugural MTV Student Award for directing and went on to direct plays in both London and Los Angeles. In 1998, he showcased his editing skills in the film adaptations of James Ellroy’s novels, ‘Cleopatra’s Second Husband’ and ‘Brown’s Requiem.’ One of his father’s final directorial projects, ‘Don Quixote,’ starring John Lithgow, was also edited by Yates in 2000.
Yates’s contributions extended beyond the big screen, as he worked on television shows such as ‘Brothers & Sisters’ and ‘Shameless.’ Additionally, he shared his expertise by teaching editing at the American Film Institute and Maine Media.
He is survived by his wife, designer Min Young Lee, whom he married in 2014, and their 9-year-old son Peter. He is also survived by his mother, Virginia Pope Yates, a film publicist, his sister Miranda, nephew Theodore, and niece Beatrice.
It is worth mentioning that Peter Yates gained recognition for his directorial work on films such as ‘Bullitt,’ ‘The Friends of Eddie Coyle,’ ‘The Deep,’ and ‘Suspect,’ among others. He was also nominated for multiple directing and best picture Oscars for his contributions to ‘Breaking Away’ and ‘The Dresser.’
Unfortunately, he passed away at the age of 81 in 2011 due to heart failure..