Greatest Editors

1. Thelma Schoonmaker

Editor | The Departed

Thelma Schoonmaker was born on January 3, 1940 in Algiers, Algeria. She is an editor and producer, known for The Departed (2006), Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) and The Irishman (2019). She was previously married to Michael Powell.

2. Michael Kahn

Editor | West Side Story

Michael Kahn was born on December 8, 1935 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an editor and cinematographer, known for West Side Story (2021), Jurassic Park (1993) and Minority Report (2002).

3. Lee Smith

Editor | Inception

Lee Smith was born in 1960 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is an editor, known for Inception (2010), Dunkirk (2017) and 1917 (2019). He is married to Kimberly.

4. George Tomasini

Editor | North by Northwest

George Tomasini has been something of an unsung hero in the editing business. He was for several years under contract to Paramount, before joining Alfred Hitchcock to collaborate on nine projects, beginning with Rear Window (1954). This partnership was to span a ten-year period, ending in ...

5. Stephen Mirrione

Editor | Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Stephen Mirrione was born on February 17, 1969 in Santa Clara County, California, USA. He is an editor and producer, known for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), Traffic (2000) and Babel (2006).

6. Sally Menke

Editor | Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Sally Menke was born on December 17, 1953 in Mineola, New York, USA. She was an editor and producer, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) and Inglourious Basterds (2009). She was married to Dean Parisot. She died on September 27, 2010 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

7. Joel Cox

Editor | Unforgiven

Joel Cox was born in 1942 and his film career began at a very early age

• appearing before the cameras, in fact - as a baby in the film 'Random

Harvest'. Some twenty years later he began work as a mail-room boy with Warner Brothers, the company with whom he has worked ever since, and in 1969 moved ...

8. Tom Cross

Editor | Whiplash

American film editor Tom Cross, A.C.E., began his career in 1997 as an assistant editor on diverse projects such as We Own the Night, Crazy Heart and the Primetime Emmy Award-Winning drama series Deadwood. He came to worldwide prominence in 2015 when he won the Academy Award for Best Editing, the ...

9. Joel Coen

Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Joel Daniel Coen is an American filmmaker who regularly collaborates with his younger brother Ethan. They made Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail Caesar and other projects. Joel ...

10. Joe Walker

Editor | Dune

In 2022, British film editor Joe Walker won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for his work on Dune. Walker is also a two-time Academy Award nominee and a three-time BAFTA nominee for his work on the films 12 Years a Slave, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. Walker was nominated for the Evening ...

11. Richard Francis-Bruce

Editor | Se7en

After leaving school, Richard joined the ABC in Sydney with hopes of emulating his father, Jack Bruce, who worked as a cinematographer in Hollywood for Cecil B. De Mille and the Famous Lansky Players. However, the only opening at the time was in editing. He fell in love with the craft and spent 15 ...

12. William Reynolds

Actor | The Land Unknown

William de Clerq Reynolds, born in Los Angeles, began his film career in 1951, one year after his marriage to Molly Sinclair. The handsome actor portrayed many authority figures, both in the movies and on television. He managed to display a wide emotional range, as evidenced by his tour-de-force ...

13. Peter Zinner

Editor | The Deer Hunter

Peter Zinner was born on July 24, 1919 in Vienna, Austria. He was an editor and producer, known for The Deer Hunter (1978), An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and The Godfather (1972). He was married to Christa Zinner. He died on November 13, 2007 in Santa Monica, California, USA.

14. Dylan Tichenor

Editor | Zero Dark Thirty

Dylan Tichenor is an American film editor and member of American Cinema Editors. He is best known for his works in Boogie Nights (1997), Brokeback Mountain (2005), There Will Be Blood (2007), Zero Dark Thirty (2012) and Phantom Thread (2017).

He is the recipient of several accolades, including a ...

15. John Gilbert

Actor | The Big Parade

John Gilbert was born into a show-business family - his father was a comic with the Pringle Stock Company. By 1915 John was an extra with Thomas H. Ince's company and a lead player by 1917. In those days he was assistant director, actor or screenwriter. He also tried his hand at directing. By 1919 ...

16. Sheldon Kahn

Editor | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Sheldon Kahn was born on March 21, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is an editor and producer, known for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Out of Africa (1985) and Junior (1994).

17. Jay Cassidy

Editor | American Hustle

Jay Cassidy is known for American Hustle (2013), A Star Is Born (2018) and Silver Linings Playbook (2012).