William Donn Hayes (1893-1973) started out in the film industry as an assistant editor, receiving his first credit as editor on Maurice Tourneur’s Never the Twain Shall Meet (1925). He went on to become an influential figure in the world of film editors, serving as President of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, and apparently devising the ACE (American Cinema Editors) acronym that regularly appears in credits.
Hayes edited around sixty features, predominantly ‘B’ pictures.
For MGM, Hayes worked on two musicals: The Girl of the Golden West and Ice Follies of 1939. He is also believed to have edited the musical sequences in Dancing Lady and Hollywood Party.
