Sad news today as the Los Angeles Times reports that film editor and longtime Quentin Tarantino collaborator Sally Menke was found dead in the early hours of this morning, aged 56. Menke had failed to return home from a hiking session in Los Angeles on Monday during an extreme heatwave, with early rumours pointing to this as the cause.
The two-time Academy Award and BAFTA nominee began her career in 1990 on the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie before going on to cut Tarantino’s cult debut Reservoir Dogs in 1992. She went on to work alongside the director on each of his following features – Pulp Fiction (1992), Four Rooms (1995), Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) and Vol. 2 (2004), Death Proof (2007) and Inglourious Basterds (2009) – and received Oscar nominations for her efforts on both Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds.
In addition to her partnership with Tarantino, Menke also collaborated with the likes of Oliver Stone (Heaven & Earth, 1993), Lee Tamahori (Mulholland Falls, 1996) and Billy Bob Thornton (All the Pretty Horses and Daddy and Them, both 2000), while her most recent credit came earlier this year with the direct-to-video thriller Peacock.
Originally published September 28, 2010. Updated April 10, 2018.
