Jack Donovan Foley (April 12, 1891 – November 9, 1967) was an American

sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...

artist who was the developer of many sound effect techniques used in

filmmaking Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. He is credited with developing a unique method for performing sound effects live and in synchrony with the picture during a film's post-production. Accordingly, individuals engaged in this trade are called " Foley artists". He worked on pictures such as '' Melody of Love'' (1928), ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 Show Boat (novel), novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the per ...

'' (1929), ''Dat Ol' Ribber'', ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'' (1931), ''

Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...

'' (1960), and '' Operation Petticoat'' (1959). For his work in Hollywood, Foley received the Motion Picture Sound Editors' Golden Reel Award.

Early life and career

Jack Foley was born on April 12, 1891, in Yorkville, New York, to Irish immigrants Margaret Donavon and Michael Foley. Foley was raised in the area of

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

. Foley's parents were separated as Margaret lived with her father and four sisters. When Foley was sixteen, Margaret married Michael Gilmartin, the son of Sligo immigrants. Foley's biological father worked at the docks and was a volunteer firefighter as well as a singer and songwriter for local pubs. Foley grew up with

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and maj ...

Arthur Murray Arthur Murray (born Moses Teichman; April 4, 1895 – March 3, 1991) was an American ballroom dancer and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the dance studio chain that bears his name. Early life and start in dance Arthur Mur ...

, and

Bert Lahr Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American stage and screen actor and comedian. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Z ...

being among his classmates. Foley's first job was as a clerk at the New York docks. During this time, Foley married Beatrice Rehm. They married in secret, as Foley was

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and Rehm was

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. In 1914, Foley and his wife moved to

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, as Foley disliked the New York weather. While in Bishop, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Foley worked for the American Defense Society guarding the Los Angeles water supply to ensure the water wasn't poisoned. He also worked at a Bishop hardware store. During this time, Foley became involved in the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

and composed a few plays. He also wrote and drew

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

for the local newspaper. During the early 1920s, many farm owners began selling their land to the city of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

for water rights as the city was growing at a rapid pace. This led to a decrease in wages for many of the locals, particularly those who worked in stores. Being personally affected, Foley began contacting several people he knew in the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre- ...

. Along with the town's storekeepers, Foley led a publicity campaign to bring the film industry to Bishop to help stimulate the local economy. This endeavor was a success for Foley as he then scouted locations for film productions. This also led to Foley eventually working for Universal in various capacities, from a stuntman to a silent movie director. By the latter half of the 1920s, sound was introduced in films. Many production companies began looking to incorporate sound in their movies. Foley became involved with this new aspect in the film industry and worked with sound for movies such as '' The Phantom of the Opera'' (1925), ''

The Jazz Singer ''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous ...

'' (1927) and '' Tarzan the Tiger'' (1929), in which he voiced the first Tarzan yell. It wasn't until ''

'' (1929) when Foley's career took off as he helped create sound effects for the movie which led to the name Foley effects. After this movie, Foley solely focused on sound for his career in the film industry. Foley worked for close to thirty years incorporating Foley sounds in movies, such as ''

'' (1931) and ''

'' (1960). He helped bring movies to life by recording everyday sounds, such as chewing, knocking on wood, and footsteps. Foley made sound a critical aspect of movie productions. Foley won awards for his work, including the Golden Reel Award. The Motion Picture Sound Editors society honored Foley after his retirement in the early 1960s. Jack Foley passed away on November 9, 1967, at the age of 76. Foley himself calculated that he had walked over making sounds for films, and his work and legacy are still remembered to this day.

References

External links

*
Jack Foley biography
on FilmSound.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Jack 1891 births 1967 deaths Sound effects artists People from Yorkville, Manhattan

Early life and career

See also

References

External links