David Fairfield, Primetime Emmy-Nominated Editor
Fairfield scored two Emmy noms in a career spanning three decades
Primetime Emmy-nominated David Wales Fairfield, who spent the majority of his career working as a television editor and producer, died of natural causes on March 21, 2011, in Hollywood, California. He was 59.
Born on July 11, 1951, in South Orange, New Jersey, Fairfield began his early years in New Vernon, New Jersey and graduated from the University of Georgia in 1973. Shortly after moving to Los Angeles in 1974 to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, he landed his first industry job as a page at NBC.
As an editor, Fairfield amassed a lengthy list of credentials in the 1980s, including TV documentaries E.T. and Friends: Magical Movie Visitors and Teenage America: Glory Years; TV movies Prime Times, Will Rogers: Look Back in Laughter, Rock ‘n’ Roll Christmas and Super Night of Rock ‘n’ Roll (which resulted in his first of two Primetime Emmy nominations); and big screen documentary The Beach Boys: An American Band. He won a CableACE Award for Will Rogers: Look Back in Laughter.
Later credits from the 1990s and beyond include TV movies Red Hot and Blue (his second Emmy nomination), The Best of The Hollywood Palace, Funniest Comedy Duos, and Rock & Roll Moments II, III and IV; video documentaries Crosby, Stills & Nash: Long Time Comin’ and Michael Landon: Memories with Laughter and Love; 1992 TV special Happy Days Reunion Special; and a short-lived reality series on now defunct network PAX called Xtreme Fakeovers.
In addition to his work in television, Fairfield tapped into his entrepreneurial nature by marketing a fish attractant for sport fishing, corridor golf, and the use of electroluminescent panels on clothing with his business partner, Tom Calamia.
Fairfield is survived by two brothers.