Wise fell into the business when his older brother — then an accountant at RKO — got him a job at the studio. He then worked his way up from sound editor on "The Gay Divorcee" and "Top Hat" to film editing on such movies as "The Bachelor Mother," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "My Favorite Wife" and "Dance, Girl, Dance" before landing the Orson Welles epic "Citizen Kane." He was the sole surviving crew member of that movie until his passing.