John Arthur Bolger; Retired Sound Engineer
John Arthur Bolger, an Oscar-nominee sound engineer for Universal Pictures and longtime North Hollywood resident, has died in Woodland Hills. He was 82.
Bolger died Aug. 22 of pneumonia, said his wife, Bessie Bolger.
A native of England, Bolger came to the United States in the early 1920s and settled in North Hollywood in 1924. He went to work in the electrical department of Universal Pictures in 1925 but later became a sound engineer with the rise of “talkies” in the late 1920s.
He worked on hundreds of films, including “The Countess of Monte Cristo” (1934), “Bedtime for Bonzo” (1951) and “Earthquake” (1974). In 1976, the year he retired, Bolger was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on “The Hindenburg.”
He is survived by his wife of 60 years; sons Donald Bolger of southern Oregon and Garrie Bolger of Burbank; five grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.
A memorial service was held last week at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in North Hollywood, where Bolger had been a regular member. The Neptune Society in Burbank handled the arrangements.
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