Milton Moses Ginsberg obit

Milton Moses Ginsberg Dies: Cult Film Director Of ‘Coming Apart’ Was 85

 He was not on the list.

Milton Moses Ginsberg, who developed a cult following for his low-budget indie films Coming Apart and The Werewolf of Washington, died May 23 in Manhattan. He was 85 and died from cancer, according to his wife, Nina Ginsberg.

Ginsberg was a film editor when his ambitions led him to make Coming Apart in 1969. The black and white film used a static camera to document Rip Torn as a psychiatrist who records his trysts with a hidden camera. The film received a good review from Richard Schickel, but some others – notably Andrew Sarris of the Village Voice – panned it.

Undaunted, Ginsberg tried again in 1973 with The Werewolf of Washington, which featured Dean Stockwell as a White House staffer who turns into a werewolf at inopportune times and murders characters based on well-known Washington figures of the era.

Ill health forced Ginsberg back to film editing. He worked on the Oscar-winning documentaries Down and Out in America with director Lee Grant in 1986 and on 1998’s The Personals.

In his later years, Ginsberg made short video essays.

 

He is survived by his wife.

Editor

Art of the Western World

Editor

ReleasedTV Series

1989–1990

1 episode

 

Bordering on Treason (2013)

Bordering on Treason

Short

Editor

2013

 

Kron

Editor

2011

 

Fields of Freedom (2006)

Fields of Freedom

7.3

Editor

2006

 

Víctor Huggo Martin in Fidel (2002)

Fidel

6.6

TV Movie

Editor

2002

 

Meat Loaf: To Hell and Back (2000)

Meat Loaf: To Hell and Back

6.5

TV Movie

Editor (as Milton Ginsberg)

2000

 

American Masters (1985)

American Masters

8.2

TV Series

Editor (as Milton Ginsberg)

2000

1 episode

 

The City Below the Line

6.0

Short

Editor

1999

 

The Personals (1999)

The Personals

6.2

Short

Editor

1999

 

Say It, Fight It, Cure It

TV Movie

Editor

1997

 

Pronto (1997)

Pronto

5.5

TV Movie

Editor (as Milton Ginsberg)

1997

 

Catwalk (1995)

Catwalk

7.0

Editor

1995

 

Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones (1990)

Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones

6.1

Editor

1990

 

Art of the Western World (1989)

Art of the Western World

8.4

TV Series

Editor

1989

3 episodes

 

Persona Non Grata (2003)

America Undercover

6.9

TV Series

Editor

1989

1 episode

 

Home at Last (1988)

Home at Last

7.0

TV Movie

Editor

1988

 

ABC Afterschool Specials (1972)

ABC Afterschool Specials

7.1

TV Series

Editor (as Milton M. Ginsberg)

1986

1 episode

 

Down and Out in America (1985)

Down and Out in America

7.2

TV Movie

Editor (as Milton Ginsberg)

1985

 

Operation: Lifeline (1978)

Operation: Lifeline

8.9

TV Series

Editor

1978

1 episode

 

The Werewolf of Washington (1973)

The Werewolf of Washington

4.0

Editor

1973

 

Director

Kron

Director

2011

 

The Haloed Bird

Short

Director

2001

 

The City Below the Line

6.0

Short

Director

1999

 

The Werewolf of Washington (1973)

The Werewolf of Washington

4.0

Director

1973

 

Coming Apart (1969)

Coming Apart

6.6

Director

1969

 

Writer

Kron

Writer

2011

 

The Haloed Bird

Short

Writer

2001

 

The City Below the Line

6.0

Short

writer

1999

 

The Werewolf of Washington (1973)

The Werewolf of Washington

4.0

written by

1973

 

Coming Apart (1969)

Coming Apart

6.6

writer

1969