Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
Mary Sweeney is a Director, Scriptwriter, Producer, Script Supervisor and Editor American born on 1 january 1953 at Madison (USA)

Mary Sweeney

Mary Sweeney
If you like this person, let us know!
Nationality USA
Birth 1 january 1953 (71 years) at Madison (USA)
Awards BAFTA Award for Best Editing

Mary Sweeney (born January 1, 1953) is an American film editor and producer best known for collaborating with the avant-garde American film director, David Lynch. Sweeney worked with Lynch on several critically acclaimed films and television series, most notably as a film editor on the cult hits Twin Peaks, Lost Highway (1997), and Mulholland Drive (2001) for Lynch's Asymmetrical Productions company. She was the co-author, with John Roach, of The Straight Story (1999).

Sweeney was for many years a domestic partner with David Lynch. The couple married in 2006 but filed for divorce one month later, citing irreconcilable differences. Together the couple has one son, Riley Sweeney Lynch, born in 1992.

A long-time Hollywood resident, Sweeney is head of The Sullivan Canyon Riders Club, a Los Angeles-based equestrian club. The club has worked to prevent land used by equestrians from being sold to developers, an effort that was supported financially by well-known film director Steven Spielberg and actress Kate Capshaw.

Biography

Sweeney began her career as an assistant editor for film editor Duwayne Dunham on such films as Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart, and the television series Twin Peaks. She soon became director David Lynch's first choice as film editor. As their working and off-screen relationships developed, Lynch promoted Sweeney to producer (she was responsible for handling the post-production end of each show).

In 1994, Sweeney read an article in the New York Times about an old man who drove a tractor cross-country just to see his ailing brother. The article piqued Sweeney's interest, and for four years she sought to the film rights to the story. Sweeney retraced the journey of the tractor owner, Alvin Straight. Along the way she met several of the same people whom Straight had met, which helped her and her co-author John Roach draft their screenplay. When Sweeney broached the idea of making a movie based on Straight's journey to her partner David Lynch, he was initially uninterested in the project, but after he read the script, he changed his mind. Lynch decided to direct the film, which would be his "straightest" narrative film to date.

Sweeney made her feature film directorial debut in 2009 with the film Baraboo, which she also wrote. The film follows several people living in a motel in a Midwestern town and shows how they interact with each other.

Best films

Mulholland Drive (2001)
(Producer)
Wild at Heart (1990)
(Script Supervisor)
The Straight Story (1999)
(Scriptwriter)

Usually with

Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Mary Sweeney (7 films)

Display filmography as list

Director

Lost Highway, 2h14
Directed by David Lynch, Mary Sweeney
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Films about psychiatry
Actors Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Loggia, Robert Blake, Jack Nance
Rating75% 3.7997053.7997053.7997053.7997053.799705
After the opening credits, which show a highway's dividing lines at night while blaring techno music plays in the background, Fred Madison (Bill Pullman), a Los Angeles saxophonist, receives a message from an unknown man on the intercom of his house. The voice says that "Dick Laurent is dead." When he looks out his window, the streets outside his house are empty, and faint police sirens are heard in the distance.

Scriptwriter

The Straight Story, 1h52
Directed by David Lynch
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Comedy-drama, Musical
Themes Transport films, Vieillesse, Films about automobiles, Road movies, Children's films
Actors Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Harry Dean Stanton, Everett McGill, Kevin P. Farley, John P. Farley
Rating79% 3.997633.997633.997633.997633.99763
Alvin Straight has not shown up to his regular bar meeting with his friends. He is eventually found lying on his floor at home, although he insists that he "just needs a bit of help getting up". His daughter Rose takes her reluctant father to see a doctor, who sternly admonishes Alvin to give up tobacco. He also tells Alvin that he should start using a walker. Alvin refuses, and does not tell Rose. Alvin then learns that his brother Lyle has suffered a stroke. Longing to visit him, but unable to drive, Alvin gradually develops a plan to travel to Mount Zion on his "ancient" riding lawn-mower and towing a small homemade travel-trailer, to the consternation of his family and friends.

Production

Inland Empire, 3h
Directed by David Lynch
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantasy, Horror, Crime
Themes Films about films
Actors Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, Julia Ormond, Laura Dern, Nastassja Kinski
Roles Producer
Rating68% 3.401493.401493.401493.401493.40149
The film opens to the sound of a gramophone playing Axxon N, "the longest-running radio play in history". Meanwhile, a young prostitute, identified in the credits as the "Lost Girl", cries while watching television in a hotel room, following an unpleasant encounter with her client. The Lost Girl’s television displays a family of surrealistic anthropomorphic rabbits who speak in cryptic statements and questions. Occasionally, there are laugh track responses within these Rabbit scenes. These three elements become recurring motifs throughout Inland Empire.
Mulholland Drive, 2h26
Directed by David Lynch
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Crime, Romance
Themes Assassinat, Films about films, Les fantasmes, Medical-themed films, Films about sexuality, Films about suicide, Films about television, Bisexuality-related films, LGBT-related films, Films about psychiatry, Films about disabilities, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film, Lesbian-related films
Actors Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Robert Forster, Brent Briscoe
Roles Producer
Rating78% 3.9493353.9493353.9493353.9493353.949335
The story may not be linear and exhibits several instances of temporal disruption. A dark-haired woman (Harring) escapes her own murder, surviving a car accident on Mulholland Drive. Injured and in shock, she descends into Los Angeles and sneaks into an apartment which an older, red-headed woman has just vacated. An aspiring actress named Betty Elms (Watts) arrives at the same apartment and finds the dark-haired woman confused, not knowing her own name. The dark-haired woman assumes the name "Rita" after seeing a poster for the film Gilda (1946), starring Rita Hayworth. To help Rita remember her identity, Betty looks in Rita's purse, where she finds a large amount of money and an unusual blue key.
The Straight Story, 1h52
Directed by David Lynch
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Comedy-drama, Musical
Themes Transport films, Vieillesse, Films about automobiles, Road movies, Children's films
Actors Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Harry Dean Stanton, Everett McGill, Kevin P. Farley, John P. Farley
Roles Producer
Rating79% 3.997633.997633.997633.997633.99763
Alvin Straight has not shown up to his regular bar meeting with his friends. He is eventually found lying on his floor at home, although he insists that he "just needs a bit of help getting up". His daughter Rose takes her reluctant father to see a doctor, who sternly admonishes Alvin to give up tobacco. He also tells Alvin that he should start using a walker. Alvin refuses, and does not tell Rose. Alvin then learns that his brother Lyle has suffered a stroke. Longing to visit him, but unable to drive, Alvin gradually develops a plan to travel to Mount Zion on his "ancient" riding lawn-mower and towing a small homemade travel-trailer, to the consternation of his family and friends.
Lost Highway, 2h14
Directed by David Lynch, Mary Sweeney
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Films about psychiatry
Actors Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Loggia, Robert Blake, Jack Nance
Roles Producer
Rating75% 3.7997053.7997053.7997053.7997053.799705
After the opening credits, which show a highway's dividing lines at night while blaring techno music plays in the background, Fred Madison (Bill Pullman), a Los Angeles saxophonist, receives a message from an unknown man on the intercom of his house. The voice says that "Dick Laurent is dead." When he looks out his window, the streets outside his house are empty, and faint police sirens are heard in the distance.
Nadja
Nadja (1994)
, 1h33
Directed by Michael Almereyda
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Horror
Themes Films about magic and magicians, Vampires in film
Actors Elina Löwensohn, Peter Fonda, Karl Geary, Martin Donovan, Galaxy Craze, Suzy Amis
Roles Producer
Rating59% 2.9985652.9985652.9985652.9985652.998565
Count Voivoide Arminius Chousescu Dracula dies with a stake in his heart,and his daughter Nadja [Elina Löwensohn] shows up to claim the body, hoping that his death will free her from the life her father has forced on her. She has the body cremated and prepares to take the ashes to Brooklyn and pay a visit to her twin brother Edgar [Jared Harris] whom she hasn't seen for a long time. Before she leaves, however, she stops for a drink and meets Lucy [Galaxy Craze]. Lucy is also feeling a sense of emptiness, so she takes Nadja home. They appear to cheer each other up, and they wind up having sex together.

Direction

Wild at Heart, 2h4
Directed by David Lynch
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Crime, Romance
Themes Transport films, Films about automobiles, Road movies
Actors Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, Crispin Glover, Diane Ladd, Isabella Rossellini
Roles Script Supervisor
Rating71% 3.5986353.5986353.5986353.5986353.598635
Lovers Lula and Sailor are separated after he is jailed for killing a man who attacked him with a knife; the assailant, Bobby Ray Lemon, was hired by Lula's mother, Marietta Fortune. Upon Sailor's release, Lula picks him up at the prison where she hands him his snakeskin jacket. They go to a hotel where she reserved a room, make love and go to see the speed metal band Powermad. At the club, Sailor gets into a fight with a man who flirts with Lula, and then leads the band in a rendition of Elvis Presley's "Love Me". Later, back in the room, after making love again, Sailor and Lula finally decide to run away to California, breaking Sailor's parole. Marietta arranges for private detective Johnnie Farragut – her on-off boyfriend – to find them and bring them back. Unbeknownst to Farragut, however, Marietta also hires gangster Marcellus Santos to track them, and kill Sailor. Santos's minions capture and kill Farragut, sending Marietta into a guilt-fueled psychosis.

Editor

Mulholland Drive, 2h26
Directed by David Lynch
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Crime, Romance
Themes Assassinat, Films about films, Les fantasmes, Medical-themed films, Films about sexuality, Films about suicide, Films about television, Bisexuality-related films, LGBT-related films, Films about psychiatry, Films about disabilities, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film, Lesbian-related films
Actors Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Robert Forster, Brent Briscoe
Roles Editor
Rating78% 3.9493353.9493353.9493353.9493353.949335
The story may not be linear and exhibits several instances of temporal disruption. A dark-haired woman (Harring) escapes her own murder, surviving a car accident on Mulholland Drive. Injured and in shock, she descends into Los Angeles and sneaks into an apartment which an older, red-headed woman has just vacated. An aspiring actress named Betty Elms (Watts) arrives at the same apartment and finds the dark-haired woman confused, not knowing her own name. The dark-haired woman assumes the name "Rita" after seeing a poster for the film Gilda (1946), starring Rita Hayworth. To help Rita remember her identity, Betty looks in Rita's purse, where she finds a large amount of money and an unusual blue key.
The Straight Story, 1h52
Directed by David Lynch
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Comedy-drama, Musical
Themes Transport films, Vieillesse, Films about automobiles, Road movies, Children's films
Actors Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Harry Dean Stanton, Everett McGill, Kevin P. Farley, John P. Farley
Roles Editor
Rating79% 3.997633.997633.997633.997633.99763
Alvin Straight has not shown up to his regular bar meeting with his friends. He is eventually found lying on his floor at home, although he insists that he "just needs a bit of help getting up". His daughter Rose takes her reluctant father to see a doctor, who sternly admonishes Alvin to give up tobacco. He also tells Alvin that he should start using a walker. Alvin refuses, and does not tell Rose. Alvin then learns that his brother Lyle has suffered a stroke. Longing to visit him, but unable to drive, Alvin gradually develops a plan to travel to Mount Zion on his "ancient" riding lawn-mower and towing a small homemade travel-trailer, to the consternation of his family and friends.
Lost Highway, 2h14
Directed by David Lynch, Mary Sweeney
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Films about psychiatry
Actors Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Loggia, Robert Blake, Jack Nance
Roles Editor
Rating75% 3.7997053.7997053.7997053.7997053.799705
After the opening credits, which show a highway's dividing lines at night while blaring techno music plays in the background, Fred Madison (Bill Pullman), a Los Angeles saxophonist, receives a message from an unknown man on the intercom of his house. The voice says that "Dick Laurent is dead." When he looks out his window, the streets outside his house are empty, and faint police sirens are heard in the distance.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, 2h15
Directed by David Lynch
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Fantastic, Horror, Crime
Themes Films about families, Films about sexuality
Actors Sheryl Lee, Moira Kelly, David Bowie, Dana Ashbrook, Chris Isaak, Harry Dean Stanton
Roles Editor
Rating73% 3.6507353.6507353.6507353.6507353.650735
FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole (David Lynch) sends Agents Chester Desmond (Chris Isaak) and Sam Stanley (Kiefer Sutherland) to investigate the mysterious murder of Teresa Banks in the town of Deer Meadow. They receive mysterious clues from Lil the dancer, most of which Desmond later explain to Sam. However he declines to explain the blue rose pinned to Lil's red dress. After difficulty with the local sheriff's department, Desmond and Stanley view Teresa's body at the morgue. They realize that her ring is missing and the letter "T" has been placed under her fingernail. The Agents question the town residents about Teresa, but come up with few clues. Stanley leaves Deer Meadow, while Desmond remains behind. Desmond discovers Teresa's missing ring under a trailer. As he reaches out to it, the screen fades to black.
Wild at Heart, 2h4
Directed by David Lynch
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Crime, Romance
Themes Transport films, Films about automobiles, Road movies
Actors Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, Crispin Glover, Diane Ladd, Isabella Rossellini
Roles First Assistant Editor
Rating71% 3.5986353.5986353.5986353.5986353.598635
Lovers Lula and Sailor are separated after he is jailed for killing a man who attacked him with a knife; the assailant, Bobby Ray Lemon, was hired by Lula's mother, Marietta Fortune. Upon Sailor's release, Lula picks him up at the prison where she hands him his snakeskin jacket. They go to a hotel where she reserved a room, make love and go to see the speed metal band Powermad. At the club, Sailor gets into a fight with a man who flirts with Lula, and then leads the band in a rendition of Elvis Presley's "Love Me". Later, back in the room, after making love again, Sailor and Lula finally decide to run away to California, breaking Sailor's parole. Marietta arranges for private detective Johnnie Farragut – her on-off boyfriend – to find them and bring them back. Unbeknownst to Farragut, however, Marietta also hires gangster Marcellus Santos to track them, and kill Sailor. Santos's minions capture and kill Farragut, sending Marietta into a guilt-fueled psychosis.