Danny R. Grimes, longtime sales manager for the electronics engineering firm Nagra Kudelski and a noted figure in sound production circles, has died. He was 63.
Grimes died Dec. 18 of natural causes at his home in Oklahoma City, according to his friend David Martin, a film and video technologist and owner of Image + Sound Llc. in Studio City.
Nagra portable tape recorders were the acknowledged industry standard for radio, TV and film production for decades. D.A. Pennebaker notably employed one to record the famed Bob Dylan documentary Don’t Look Back (1967).
Grimes started with Nagra Kudelski as a janitor after college. His interest in audio prompted management to give him a sales position that led to the role of West Coast sales manager. He was promoted to U.S. sales manager in 1991 when control of the Nagra franchise in the U.S. was sold to Phi Technologies of Oklahoma City.
Grimes remained active with Nagra as an Oklahoma City-based sales rep until his retirement in 2012.
Grimes, born in Rochester, Pa., was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving in Vietnam from 1970-71 and seeing action with the 101st Airborne Division. He received an air medal for meritorious action.
Survivors include his wife Gina and their son Patrick, his mother Cassie, his brother Dennis and his sister Cathy.
