Thomas Causey, an acclaimed Hollywood sound mixer who worked on projects including “Dick Tracy” and “Erin Brokovich,” and four “Star Trek” films has died at 76, his daughter-in-law told The Hollywood Reporter.
The New Orleans native was nominated for a “Best Sound” Academy Award for “Dick Tracy” in 1991. He earned a BAFTA nomination that year for the same film. Earlier in his career, Causey’s work on NBC’s “Fire on the Mountain” got him nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement In Film Sound Mixing.
‘Star Trek’ Sound Mixer Thomas Causey Died After an Undisclosed ‘Long Illness’
The Hollywood Reporter’s obituary for Causey, which applauds for “a rather impressive four decades in Hollywood,” says his daughter-in-law, Crystal Causey, told them the standout died in Cathedral City, California after “a long illness.” The report does not specify what that illness was.
The report says he was born in 1949 and grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana. His passion for movies was sparked while taking film classes at the University of New Orleans, per the story. It also says one of his Causey’s first jobs was as a driver for a sound crew working on the 1972 British film “Fear Is the Key,” which shot in Louisiana.
A turning point in his career came in 1978 when he worked on the horror film “Halloween” starring Jamie Lee Curtis.
Throughout his career, Causey worked on films involving a large number of A-list actors and directors. Among them are Francis Ford Coppola, Adam Sandler, Steven Soderbergh, Garry Marshall, Albert Brooks, John Carpenter, and others.
Late Sound Mixer Thomas Causey Inspired a ‘Star Trek’ Character
Thomas Causey’s contributions to the “Star Trek” franchise resulted in a character being named after him, according to Memory Alpha, a “Trek” database. The site explains the character was listed on the dedication plaque of the USS Enterprise-B as a member of the Advanced Technologies team in the 1994 film “Star Trek: Generations.”
In “Star Trek: First Contact,” he was listed on the dedication plaque of the Enterprise-E as a yard engineer at the San Francisco Yards. The character never appeared onscreen, only appearing in written references.
Causey mixed all four of the feature films focused on the cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
One “Star Trek” fan paid tribute to Causey in a sweet Reddit post. They wrote, “
When my son was born he was a terrible sleeper and I’d often have to stay up and have him in my arms at night to get him back down. I’d sit in the dark for ages sometimes before I finally relented and just sat on the couch and put the TV on down low.
For some reason if I’d put on TNG on Netflix, he’d go out fairly quickly. I assumed it was something about the calming ambient noises of the ship and the proper and professional dialogue.
Either way, thanks Thomas Causey, for giving me some much needed relief during a tough part of my life.”
