I’m sad to pass on the news that David Oddy passed away on Jan 12, 2015 in Oxford at age 74. His cinema career spanned almost five decades, starting in the late 1950’s. He was chief projectionist at several major cinemas in the West End of London, including the Victoria Station Cartoon Cinema. The BBC interviewed David on the sad day when it closed in 1981. He also
worked at several other greater London cinemas, including an art house in Richmond.
David was well known and respected among his fellow projectionists. In his time most of the West End cinema projectionists knew one another as they frequented the same pubs and it was common practice to move employment from cinema to cinema. David was one of the most colorful of the lot with his quick mind, sense of humor, impeccable dress, and his love of gadgets and anything mechanical. I’m sure he and his buddy Jim Carter will both be remembered fondly as long as any of that group is still around.
David spent the last decade of his career in the AV department of the Imperial War Museum. There he had the opportunity to handle and show rare archival footage and to meet many dignitaries at exclusive screenings. He retired to Oxfordshire upon retirement.
In the days before digital filming,the projection booth was quite an engineering project. Dave was a self taught engineer who built several booths from the ground up. Long before digital controllers he devised mechanical contraptions to automatically open and close the curtains in front of the screen, to raise and lower the house music volume and to dim and raise the house lights.
The skills that David took pride in and that brought a fabulous entertainment experience to so many people in the pre-digital era are now almost entirely lost. He was an exceptionally inquisitive creative person and a loyal friend. He’ll be missed.
I’m sad to pass on the news that David Oddy passed away on Jan 12, 2015 in Oxford at age 74. His cinema career spanned almost five decades, starting in the late 1950’s. He was chief projectionist at several major cinemas in the West End of London, including the Victoria Station Cartoon Cinema. The BBC interviewed David on the sad day when it closed in 1981. He also worked at several other greater London cinemas, including an art house in Richmond.
David was well known and respected among his fellow projectionists. In his time most of the West End cinema projectionists knew one another as they frequented the same pubs and it was common practice to move employment from cinema to cinema. David was one of the most colorful of the lot with his quick mind, sense of humor, impeccable dress, and his love of gadgets and anything mechanical. I’m sure he and his buddy Jim Carter will both be remembered fondly as long as any of that group is still around.
David spent the last decade of his career in the AV department of the Imperial War Museum. There he had the opportunity to handle and show rare archival footage and to meet many dignitaries at exclusive screenings. He retired to Oxfordshire upon retirement.
In the days before digital filming,the projection booth was quite an engineering project. Dave was a self taught engineer who built several booths from the ground up. Long before digital controllers he devised mechanical contraptions to automatically open and close the curtains in front of the screen, to raise and lower the house music volume and to dim and raise the house lights.
The skills that David took pride in and that brought a fabulous entertainment experience to so many people in the pre-digital era are now almost entirely lost. He was an exceptionally inquisitive creative person and a loyal friend. He’ll be missed.