Started cutting films at RKO in 1936 with "Follow the Fleet" and "Swing Time," for his brother Pandro. He eventually left RKO, following his brother Pandro to MGM.

In his long career, despite work on some classic films, he only received one Academy Award nomination, for Best Film Editing 1966, for his innovative work on John Frankenheimer's "Grand Prix" (shared with Fredric Steinkamp, Stewart Linder & Frank Santillo). He (and they) won.

After cutting "Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon" for Otto Preminger in 1970, he moved into television movies and series until his retirement in 1977. He was nominated for an Emmy for "Babe" (1975).