Gene S. Cantamessa

Gene S. Cantamessa is a former sound mixer of Hollywood films from New York, New York whose many credits include, , and. His son, Steve Cantamessa, was boom operator on the last two productions.

Cantamessa won the 1982 Academy Award for Best Sound for his work on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. He also received nominations from the Academy Award for The Candidate (1972), Young Frankenstein (1974), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), 1941 (1979), and 2010 (1984). His most recent Academy Award nomination was for Star Trek IV (1986), which he shared with David J. Hudson, Mel Metcalfe, and Terry Porter. Cantamessa and Hudson had previously worked together on Star Trek III and the 1980 Joseph Sargent-directed romantic comedy Coast to Coast.

In addition to Star Trek IV and Star Trek VI, Gene and Steve Cantamessa worked together on several other films throughout the 1980s and 90s, including Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Ghostbusters II, Dave, Someone to Watch Over Me, Regarding Henry (written and co-produced by J.J. Abrams), and Leonard Nimoy's Funny About Love. Gene Cantamessa's other film credits include Blazing Saddles, The Bad News Bears, Stripes, Annie, Ghostbusters, St. Elmo's Fire, Above the Law, The birdcage, Space Jam, and Six Days and Seven Nights. He retired after production on 1999's End of Days.

Cantamessa died in Los Angeles on 8 November 2011 following a long hospitalization. He was 80. 

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Gene S. Cantamessa