SALLY MENKE 1953 - 2010

UPDATED 10:02 a.m.
UPDATED 4:35 p.m.

This is incredibly sad news to report. Those who have followed Quentin Tarantino's career are well familiar with the name Sally Menke, who was the director's film editor for every movie he made, from Reservoir Dogs in 1992 to last year's Inglourious Basterds. Menke went hiking with her dog during a wave of extreme heat yesterday (Los Angeles temperatures hit a record high of 113 on Monday) and was discovered dead early this Tuesday morning by rescue searchers combing the Beachwood Canyon area.

Her locked car was parked in a lot in Griffith Park, indicating that she had gone into the trails among the hills. After receiving information from friends that she had not returned home from her scheduled outing several patrol officers and a helicopter from the Los Angeles Police Department began a search for Menke that lasted hours and ended with the discovery of her body at the bottom of a ravine early this morning. Menke's dog was found alive and sitting next to her body, according to the L.A.P.D.

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, sources familiar with the death investigation believe Menke became disoriented and collapsed, and the county coroner's office is trying to determine whether the heat played a role in Menke's death. As of 9:00 a.m. this morning, no official cause of death had been reported.

Menke was 56 years old and was also the editor on, among many other films, Lee Tamahori's Mulholland Falls and two films directed by Billy Bob Thornton, All the Pretty Horses and Daddy and Them. She was twice nominated for the Academy Award, for Pulp Fiction in 1994 and for Inglourious Basterds in 2009.

(Thanks to Andrew Blankstein of the Los Angeles Times, who will be continually updating this story as more information becomes available.)

UPDATED

From the Inglourious Basterds DVD/Blu-ray, this reel of acknowledgments of Sally Menke from the cast and crew of the movie. It's almost too painful to watch right at this moment, but the clip is comforting evidence that she knew just how much she was liked, loved and respected by those who worked with her. I'm sure I can be presumptuous enough to say that the hearts of SLIFR readers go out to those who knew and loved Sally Menke, as well as our thanks to those who worked with her and put this tribute together.



And of course, from the Death Proof DVD, Tarantino himself talks about his collaboration with Sally Menke. (Plus some more now-heartbreaking "Hi, Sallys.")



(Thanks to David Hudson, MUBI and especially Bob Westal, who passes along a wonderful quote from Menke regarding her work on Inglourious Basterds, for calling attention back to these tributes.)

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UPDATE 4:35 p.m.: Here's S.T. Vanairsdale's astute breakdown of Seven Quintessential Clips from the Quentin Tarantino/Sally Menke Canon. Current and future film editors, take note and take a little joy while mourning the untimely end of what Vanairsdale rightly describes as "one of the longest, most inspired and fruitful creative collaborations in Hollywood."

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