Edward Abroms, Steven Spielberg’s First Film Editor, Dies at 82
He cut an episode of 'Night Gallery' and 'The Sugarland Express,' received an Oscar nom for 'Blue Thunder' and worked on 'Columbo.'
He was not on the list.
Edward Abroms, the film editor who worked with a young Steven Spielberg on Night Gallery and The Sugarland Express and received an Oscar nomination for cutting John Badham’s Blue Thunder, has died. He was 82.
Abroms died Tuesday of heart failure in Los Angeles, daughter Lynn Abroms told The Hollywood Reporter. He was the recipient of the American Cinema Editors’ Career Achievement Award in 2006.
As a film editor and director on the long-running NBC hit Columbo, Abroms won the second of his two career Emmy Awards for cutting an episode in 1972. He landed a second nom that year for helming another installment.
Abroms also edited Sam Peckinpah’s final feature as a director, The Osterman Weekend (1983), and one of his last assignments before retirement came on Street Fighter (1994), starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Abroms was an editor on the 1969 pilot for Rod Serling’s Night Gallery that featured a segment directed by Spielberg in his TV debut, “Eyes,” starring Joan Crawford. Spielberg then employed Abroms on his feature debut, The Sugarland Express (1974).
Between 1971-81, Abroms directed dozens of telefilms before opting to return to the editing room.
Editing “was my first love,” he once said. “I found as a television director in most cases you’re more or less a traffic cop. You’ve got a schedule, you have to shoot so many pages a day, and as far as the editing is concerned, you don’t have a lot of input.”
Born on May 6, 1935, Abroms was raised in Hollywood. He attended the USC School for Cinema but dropped out to take a job in the mailroom at Republic Studios.
After a stint at Technicolor, he was hired as an apprentice editor at Review Productions (now Universal Studios) and later was given a sequence to cut on a 1966 episode of NBC’s Tarzan, starring Ron Ely. He then worked on installments of another NBC show, Ironside.
Abroms won his first Emmy for the 1970 NBC telefilm My Sweet Charlie, starring Patty Duke.
That was the first of several collaborations with director Lamont Johnson; they also worked together in 1972 on the films You’ll Like My Mother and The Groundstar Conspiracy and on That Certain Summer, the landmark ABC telefilm about homosexuality that starred Hal Holbrook and Martin Sheen.
On Columbo, series creators Richard Levinson and William Link asked Abroms if he would supervise the editing on the show, “and his contribution was invaluable,” they wrote in their 1981 book, Stay Tuned. “He inserted amusing optical effects, energized the pacing, and whenever any actors — including [Peter] Falk —got an advanced case of the cutes, Abroms left it on the cutting-room floor.
“In gratitude, we assigned him the last episode of the season to direct, and he was the only director to bring us in on schedule.” He received an Emmy nomination for directing that installment in 1972, then landed another nom the following year.
Abroms also edited and/or directed episodes of other series like The Virginian, Kojak, The Rookies, Cannon, The Six Million Dollar Man, Ellery Queen, Hawaii Five-O and Murder, She Wrote.
Abroms shared his Oscar nom with co-editor Frank Morriss for their work on the crime drama Blue Thunder (1983), and he also was an editor on The Jewel of the Nile (1985), starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.
His daughter Lynn and son, Ed Abroms Jr., are also film editors. Survivors also include his wife, Colleen; another daughter, Cindy; and grandchildren Brandon, Jordon and James.
Abroms spent three decades as a member of the ACE board, with 17 of those as treasurer.
“Ed was a wonderful man and a great talent,” ACE president Stephen Rivkin said in a statement. “His passion for his craft and innovation led to an extremely successful and fulfilling career in both editing and directing.
“Ed’s many years of service to the American Cinema Editors will continue to have a lasting impact on our organization. It was an honor to serve alongside of him on the board of directors. He is an inspiration.”
Editor
Poster for video release, 1 sheet movie poster
T.N.T.
3.6
Editor
1997
Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raul Julia, Kylie Minogue, Ming-Na
Wen, Grand L. Bush, Andrew Bryniarski, Byron Mann, Wes Studi, Jay Tavare, and
Peter Navy Tuiasosopo in Street Fighter (1994)
Street Fighter
4.1
Editor
1994
Tony Goldwyn and Lynn Whitfield in Taking the Heat (1993)
Taking the Heat
5.6
TV Movie
Editor
1993
Kimberly Cullum in Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop
Drive (1992)
Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive
5.5
TV Movie
Editor
1992
John Larroquette in One Special Victory (1991)
One Special Victory
6.9
TV Movie
Editor (as Edward Abroms)
1991
Keith Carradine, Harry Dean Stanton, and Kim Greist in
Payoff (1991)
Payoff
4.9
TV Movie
Editor (as Edward Abroms)
1991
Aftermath: A Test of Love (1991)
Aftermath: A Test of Love
5.8
TV Movie
Editor
1991
Crash: The Mystery of Flight 1501 (1990)
Crash: The Mystery of Flight 1501
5.3
TV Movie
Editor
1990
Peter Falk in Columbo (1971)
Columbo
8.3
TV Series
Editor
1971–1990
3 episodes
Nightlife (1989)
Nightlife
5.7
TV Movie
Editor (as Edward Abroms)
1989
Glory Days (1988)
Glory Days
5.5
TV Movie
Editor
1988
Adam Baldwin and Roy Scheider in Cohen and Tate (1988)
Cohen and Tate
6.3
Editor (as Edward Abroms)
1988
Arliss Howard and Alexandra Powers in Plain Clothes (1988)
Plain Clothes
6.2
Editor (as Edward Abroms)
1988
Cherry 2000 (1987)
Cherry 2000
5.5
Editor (as Edward Abroms)
1987
William Conrad and Joe Penny in Jake and the Fatman (1987)
Jake and the Fatman
6.4
TV Series
Editor (as Edward Abroms)
1987
1 episode
Florida Straits (1986)
Florida Straits
5.2
TV Movie
Editor (as Edward Abroms)
1986
The Guardian (1984)
The Guardian
6.3
TV Movie
Editor (as Edward Abroms)
1984
Meg Foster in The Osterman Weekend (1983)
The Osterman Weekend
5.8
Editor (as Edward Abroms)
1983
Blue Thunder (1983)
Blue Thunder
6.4
Editor (as Edward Abroms, film edited by)
1983
Dirk Bogarde and Glenda Jackson in The Patricia Neal Story
(1981)
The Patricia Neal Story
7.0
TV Movie
Editor (as Edward Abroms)
1981
Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker (1979)
Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker
5.2
TV Movie
Editor (as Ed Abroms)
1979
Ellery Queen (1975)
Ellery Queen
8.3
TV Series
film editor
1975
2 episodes
The Sugarland Express (1974)
The Sugarland Express
6.7
film editor
1974
Martin Landau in Savage (1973)
Savage
5.4
TV Movie
Editor
1973
That Certain Summer (1972)
That Certain Summer
7.7
TV Movie
Editor
1972
Patty Duke in You'll Like My Mother (1972)
You'll Like My Mother
6.6
Editor
1972
The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972)
The Groundstar Conspiracy
6.0
Editor
1972
The Impatient Heart (1971)
The Impatient Heart
4.7
TV Movie
Editor
1971
Lock, Stock and Barrel (1971)
Lock, Stock and Barrel
7.0
TV Movie
Editor
1971
Lee Grant in Ransom for a Dead Man (1971)
Ransom for a Dead Man
7.6
TV Movie
Editor
1971
James Drury, Doug McClure, and John McIntire in The
Virginian (1962)
The Virginian
7.6
TV Series
Editor
1970
1 episode
Darren McGavin and Pascale Petit in Berlin Affair (1970)
Berlin Affair
6.8
TV Movie
Editor
1970
Tarzan's Deadly Silence (1970)
Tarzan's Deadly Silence
5.8
Editor
1970
It Takes a Thief (1968)
It Takes a Thief
7.5
TV Series
Editor
1970
1 episode
Chelsea Brown and Vince Edwards in Dial Hot Line (1970)
Dial Hot Line
7.4
TV Movie
Editor
1970
My Sweet Charlie (1970)
My Sweet Charlie
7.6
TV Movie
Editor
1970
Rod Serling in Night Gallery (1969)
Night Gallery
7.9
TV Series
Editor
1969
1 episode
The Bold Ones: The Protectors (1969)
The Bold Ones: The Protectors
7.1
TV Series
Editor
1969
1 episode
Raymond Burr and Barbara Sigel in Ironside (1967)
Ironside
6.9
TV Series
Editor
1968–1969
4 episodes
Tarzan (1966)
Tarzan
7.0
TV Series
Editor
1966–1968
14 episodes
Untamed Frontier
8.2
TV Series
Editor
1967
1 episode
Director
Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote (1984)
Murder, She Wrote
7.2
TV Series
Director
1985
1 episode
William Conrad in Nero Wolfe (1981)
Nero Wolfe
7.2
TV Series
Director
1981
3 episodes
The Magical World of Disney (1954)
The Magical World of Disney
8.4
TV Series
Director
1980
1 episode
The Chisholms (1979)
The Chisholms
7.1
TV Series
Director (as Ed Abroms)
1980
2 episodes
Salvage 1 (1979)
Salvage 1
7.4
TV Series
Director (as Ed Abroms)
1979
2 episodes
Kam Fong, Al Harrington, Jack Lord, and James MacArthur in
Hawaii Five-O (1968)
Hawaii Five-O
7.4
TV Series
Director (as Ed Abroms)
1979
1 episode
Doctors' Private Lives
TV Series
Director
1979
Kate Mulgrew in Mrs. Columbo (1979)
Mrs. Columbo
5.6
TV Series
Director (as Edward Abroms)
1979
1 episode
David Cassidy and Simon Oakland in David Cassidy - Man
Undercover (1978)
David Cassidy - Man Undercover
6.9
TV Series
Director (as Ed Abroms)
1978–1979
2 episodes
Vincent Baggetta in The Eddie Capra Mysteries (1978)
The Eddie Capra Mysteries
7.1
TV Series
Director (as Edward Abroms)
1978
2 episodes
ABC Weekend Specials (1977)
ABC Weekend Specials
7.8
TV Series
Director (as Ed Abroms)
1978
1 episode
Shaun Cassidy, Pamela Sue Martin, and Parker Stevenson in
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977)
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
7.3
TV Series
Director
1978
1 episode
Kojak (1973)
Kojak
7.1
TV Series
Director (as Edward Abroms)
1976–1978
4 episodes
The Case of the Baltimore Girls (1978)
The Case of the Baltimore Girls
TV Movie
Director (as Edward Abroms)
1978
Patrick Duffy in Man from Atlantis (1977)
Man from Atlantis
6.5
TV Series
Director (as Edward Abroms)
1977
1 episode
Lee Majors in The Six Million Dollar Man (1973)
The Six Million Dollar Man
7.1
TV Series
Director (as Ed Abroms)
1977
2 episodes
Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox in CHiPs (1977)
CHiPs
6.4
TV Series
Director (as Ed Abroms)
1977
1 episode
Harold Gould and Stefanie Powers in The Feather and Father
Gang (1976)
The Feather and Father Gang
6.9
TV Series
Director (as Edward Abroms)
1977
1 episode
Switch (1975)
Switch
7.1
TV Series
Director (as Edward Abroms)
1976
2 episodes
Ellery Queen (1975)
Ellery Queen
8.3
TV Series
Director (as Edward Abroms)
1976
1 episode
Doctors' Hospital (1975)
Doctors' Hospital
7.2
TV Series
Director
1975–1976
4 episodes
Cannon (1971)
Cannon
6.8
TV Series
Director (as Edward Abroms)
1975
1 episode
Meredith Baxter and Paul Hecht in The Impostor (1975)
The Impostor
5.9
TV Movie
Director
1975
Robert Forster, David Birney, and Richard E. Kalk in Police
Story (1973)
Police Story
7.5
TV Series
Director
1973–1975
2 episodes
Archer (1975)
Archer
5.3
TV Series
Director
1975
1 episode
Apple's Way (1974)
Apple's Way
6.6
TV Series
Director
1975
1 episode
Teresa Graves in Get Christie Love! (1974)
Get Christie Love!
6.3
TV Series
Director (as Edward Abroms)
1974
1 episode
Kate Jackson, Georg Stanford Brown, Sam Melville, and
Michael Ontkean in The Rookies (1972)
The Rookies
6.8
TV Series
Director
1974
1 episode
Doc Elliot (1973)
Doc Elliot
6.7
TV Series
Director
1974
1 episode
Lorne Greene and Ben Murphy in Griff (1973)
Griff
6.1
TV Series
Director
1973
2 episodes
Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James in McMillan & Wife
(1971)
McMillan & Wife
7.2
TV Series
Director
1973
1 episode
Peter Falk in Columbo (1971)
Columbo
8.3
TV Series
Director
1972–1973
2 episodes
Rod Serling in Night Gallery (1969)
Night Gallery
7.9
TV Series
Director
1973
1 episode
Pete Duel and Ben Murphy in Alias Smith and Jones (1971)
Alias Smith and Jones
7.6
TV Series
Director
1972
1 episode
Editorial Department
Michael Douglas, Danny DeVito, and Kathleen Turner in The
Jewel of the Nile (1985)
The Jewel of the Nile
6.1
additional editor (as Edward Abroms)
1985
Tommy Lee Jones and Rosanna Arquette in The Executioner's
Song (1982)
The Executioner's Song
7.0
TV Movie
editorial consultant (as Edward Abroms)
1982
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