Dede-Allen-Obituary

Dede Allen

Obituary

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dede Allen, the film editor whose pioneering work on movies like "The Hustler" and "Bonnie and Clyde" brought a new approach to shaping the look and sound of American movies, has died. She was 86.

Allen died Saturday at her home in Los Angeles days after suffering a stroke, her son Tom Fleischman told The Los Angeles Times.

With "Bonnie and Clyde" in 1967, Allen became the first film editor to receive sole credit on a movie. She was nominated for Academy Awards for that movie, 1975's "Dog Day Afternoon," ''Reds" in 1981 and "Wonder Boys" in 2000.

Allen was the first American to embrace European methods of editing by beginning sequences with close-ups or jump cuts and using the sound from the next shot while the previous scene was still playing.

Greg S. Faller, professor of film studies at Towson University in Maryland, said "The Hustler" and "Bonnie and Clyde" ''must be considered benchmark films in the history of editing."

Many of her techniques are now standard in modern filmmaking.

"It's hard to see the changes she made because most of what she did has been so fully embraced by the industry," Faller said.

In "Dog Day Afternoon," she used a staccato tempo, sometimes called shock cutting.

"She creates this menacing quality by not cutting where you'd expect it — she typically would cut sooner than you might expect," Faller said. "You weren't ready for it."

Allen edited or co-edited 20 major films over four decades. She was most closely identified with directors Arthur Penn, Sidney Lumet and George Roy Hill and actor-directors Paul Newman, Warren Beatty and Robert Redford.

Dorothea Corothers Allen was born in Cincinnati on Dec. 3, 1923. She attended Scripps College in Claremont but left school to take a job as a messenger at Columbia Pictures. She started out working on television commercials before getting her first big break in the late 1950s editing Robert Wise's "Odds Against Tomorrow."

In 1994, Allen received a career achievement award given by American Cinema Editors. In November 2007 she received the Motion Picture Editors Guild's Fellowship and Service Award.

In addition to her son, Tom, she is survived by her husband of 63 years, Stephen E. Fleischman, daughter Ramey Ward, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.




Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press

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Not sure what to say?

sorry for your loss may the GOD of comfort be with you PS

I knew Dede when she was at Scripps, I was at Caltech. We dated once or twice but I was closer to one of her best friends at Scripps, Anne Richey. I had followed her career with great admiration, and knew of her editing accomplishments. I am so sorry now that I never contacted her, after all these years. Goodbye, old friend

Thank you for your legacy~RIP.
Anne (UK)

What shows that a person value the gift of life? By the Legacy they leave behind. May those happy memories sustain the family and bring some comfort to your heart.

God is for us a refuge and strength, a help that is readily to be found during distresses.(Psalms 46:1)

Sorry for your loss. God bless.

Bonnie and Clyde was the first "grownup" movie my parents ever took me to. Thanks for the memories.

Sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Dede Allen, whose technical skills and creative eye served to enhance the popular appeal of so many memorable films.

My thoughts and prayers are with you in your time of grief. May your memories bring you comfort.

Rest in peace.

Rest in Peace!