In Remembrance: Geraldine Peroni

     Geraldine Peroni, the Academy Award nominated film editor who worked frequently with director Robert Altman has passed away on Tuesday, August 3, 2004 in New York City, NY. She was 51.

     Peroni was born in Manhattan and raised in Rockaway Beach, Queens. After studying film at Hunter College, she landed her first film job as an editorial apprentice on Enormous Changes At The Last Minute (1983). In 1988 she worked as the first assistant editor on director Martin Scorsese's Last Temptation Of Christ under editor Thelma Schoonmaker. She also worked with Schoonmaker on "Life Lessons" the Scorsese directed section of the 1989 anthology film New York Stories. Her first credit as an editor came on 1990's Iron & Silk.

     Peroni first worked with Altman in 1990 on Vincent & Theo and soon became his favorite editor to work with. The two developed a close working relationship, with Altman stating that her input becoming an important part of his decision making while filming. "It gets to the point where I could be shooting a scene and a little bird will jump into my ear and say, 'Gerri's not going to like this,' " Altman said in a recent interview in DGA magazine, published by the Directors Guild of America. Peroni was nominated for her work on Altman's 1992 Hollywood satire The Player. She also edited Short Cuts (1993), Prêt-a-Porter (1994), Kansas City (1996), Gingerbread Man (1998) and Dr. T and The Women (2001) for Altman. The last film the two collaborated on was The Company (2003).

     She also edited such films as Johnny Suede (1991), Michael (1991), Jesus' Son (1999) and The Safety Of Objects (2001) among other films. She also edited the 2002 cable series The Wire. Her last work was the Sci-Fi Channel special The Buried Secret Of M. Night Shyamalan.