I'm reading at
The Guardian that
Sally Menke, the celebrated and loyal editor of
Quentin Tarantino's filmography and twice Oscar nominated for '
Pulp Fiction' and '
Inglourious Basterds' respectively, has tragically died near her home in Beachwood Canyon, Los Angeles, aged just 56. According to
The L.A. Times, Menke died whilst out on a hike with her dog on Monday night. Her body was found at the bottom of a ravine at 2am this morning when her family reported to police that she had failed to return home the previous night. The cause of death has yet to be established but some are speculating the
extreme heat in L.A. this week overcame her, and she collapsed. Really sad, and awful news. It's well known that a great auteur is only as good as the collaborators he or she works with as film is unlike any other medium. A book, or a painting, are usually crafted by one single hand, one artist, with one vision and one voice. But the beauty of film-making is the collaborative process and the dozens and dozens of experts who work together on producing a collective vision. Those directors who are smart, quickly cling on to the real talented people and never let go. And in Menke, Tarantino had one of the best editors in the business. And he knew it pretty early on. Her work may be invisible to most, but Tarantino knew exactly how valuable she was for his films. As well as editing every single one of his movies, she also worked on '
Mullholland Falls', Oliver Stone's '
Heaven & Earth' and Billy Bob Thornton's '
All The Pretty Horses'. It's hard to imagine a movie from Quentin without her, who knows what toll Menke's untimely death will have on his future career. Watch the second video below to see an example of how beloved she was by Tarantino and his crew on every movie he made. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dheJVdMEpxs& http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXDeKw40Fcc OWF's condolences go out to Menke's family.