Harry Gerstad

PALM SPRINGS, CA--Oscar®-winning film editor Harry Donald Gerstad, died here July 17 of natural causes. He was 93. Gerstad garnered two Oscars®, for his editing of "Champion" (1949) and for "High Noon" (1952). MSTies know him as the editor of the movie in episode 201- ROCKETSHIP XM.

Gerstad came to Hollywood with his father, a cameraman, in 1910, and began his career at the Hal Roach Studios laboratory in 1929. He then worked in the Warner Bros. Lab and at Republic Pictures as an assistant.

After World War II, he began editing features including "The Spiral Staircase" "Till the End of Time" (both 1946), "So Well Remembered" (1947) and "Unknown Island" (1948).

Directors Edward Dmytryk and Stanley Kramer influenced Gerstad's career: He worked on several films for Dmytryk at RKO including 1947's "Crossfire." Gerstad then moved over to Columbia Pictures as editorial supervisor for Kramer and later recalled those years as "the most productive part of my career." Gerstad edited the Kramer's "Home of the Brave," (1949) "Cyrano de Bergerac" (1950) and "Death of a Salesman" (1951).

In the 1950s and 60s he also worked in television, and was nominated for an Eddie Award for his editing of an episode of the TV series "High Chaparral in 1968. You can also see his work on the TV series "The Adventures of Superman." In 1963 he became editorial supervisor for Bing Crosby Productions, and when it closed in 1966, he moved to Fox Studios, where he edited feature film version of the "Batman" TV series. He also worked for John Wayne's Batjac Productions until he retired in 1973.

Survivors include wife Jody and two nieces.