Orville Joseph "Bud" Wanzer

I had Prof. Wanzer as an undergrad student for one semester I spent at NMSU in the fall of 1983. I have such wonderful memories of him loaning me films, yes actual prints and a projector, in the evenings and telling me to have fun and enjoy. I'm roam the halls looking for an open classroom to project some unknown to me at the time classic. He was so generous to a worked up 20 year old...I'm so grateful I met and knew him. Even though I only spent one semester in Las Cruces finishing up at...

Mr. Wanzer was an excellent film teacher with interesting stories behind the films he required us to view. His "hands on" teaching method with the military surplus, 16mm field cameras is a great memory for me.

Great teacher, friend and educator! Funny guy made me laff so many times! Great teacher took his film making class 1 and loved it and learned so much!! Thank you "Buddy" we had a lot of fun on a back-roads motorcycle trip in '74!

Sincerely,
"Fat Freddy" Janer

Buddy Wanzer was one of several mentors I had during my days at NMSU in the 80s. He was cranky, irascible, and never kept his opinions to himself. I can still remember hearing him complaining about the idiots in charge in his thick Bronx accent as he held court at the Rustler snack bar. After I became a film, TV, and radio major told him I was interested in film animation. He encouraged me to pursue it as much as I could. Without being asked, he built a homemade animation stand for me in one...