# Paul Hirsch (film editor)

Paul Frederick Hirsch (born November 14, 1945) is an American film editor with over 40 film credits since 1970, best known as one of the premier filmmakers to come out of the New Hollywood movement, collaborating with directors like Brian De Palma, George Lucas, George A. Romero, and Herbert Ross. He won an Academy Award and Saturn Award for his work on the original Star Wars, which he shared with Richard Chew and Marcia Lucas.

## Life and career

Hirsch is a native of New York City, and the son of painter Joseph Hirsch. His father was of German-Jewish descent. After graduating from Columbia in 1966, he began to pursue a career in editing. In the late 1960s, while editing trailers in NYC, he was introduced by his brother, Charles, to then unknown filmmaker Brian De Palma. Their collaboration has yielded eleven feature films.
In 1978, he won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for his work on Star Wars, along with Richard Chew and Marcia Lucas. He was also the first person to win the Saturn Award for Best Editing twice, first for Star Wars in 1977 and then Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in 2011.
He has edited over 35 feature films, including The Empire Strikes Back, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Mission: Impossible, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Footloose, Carrie, Falling Down, Phantom of the Paradise, Obsession, Blow Out, The Secret of My Success, Steel Magnolias and Ray, for which he received a second Academy Award nomination in 2005 and the American Cinema Editors' award for Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy or Musical). He has also worked with Duncan Jones on Source Code and Warcraft.
Hirsch rarely watches movies other than his own more than once. However, he cites that the musical An American in Paris and the science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey are worthy of repeat viewing.

## Filmography
### As film editor

| Year | Film | Director | Notes |
| 1970 | Hi, Mom! | Brian De Palma | |
| 1972 | Sisters | Brian De Palma | |
| 1974 | Phantom of the Paradise | Brian De Palma | |
| 1976 | Carrie | Brian De Palma | |
| 1976 | Obsession | Brian De Palma | |
| 1977 | Star Wars | George Lucas | Co-editor with Marcia Lucas & Richard Chew Academy Award for Best Film Editing Saturn Award for Best Editing Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Editing Nominated—ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film |
| 1978 | King of the Gypsies | Frank Pierson | |
| 1978 | The Fury | Brian De Palma | |
| 1980 | The Empire Strikes Back | Irvin Kershner | |
| 1981 | Blow Out | Brian De Palma | |
| 1982 | Creepshow | George A. Romero | Segment: "The Crate" |
| 1983 | The Black Stallion Returns | Robert Dalva | |
| 1984 | Footloose | Herbert Ross | |
| 1986 | Ferris Bueller's Day Off | John Hughes | |
| 1987 | Planes, Trains and Automobiles | John Hughes | |
| 1987 | The Secret of My Success | Herbert Ross | |
| 1989 | Steel Magnolias | Herbert Ross | |
| 1990 | Coupe de Ville | Joe Roth | |
| 1991 | Dutch | Peter Faiman | Co-editor with Adam Bernardi & Rick Shaine |
| 1992 | Raising Cain | Brian De Palma | Co-editor with Robert Dalva & Bonnie Koehler |
| 1993 | Falling Down | Joel Schumacher | |
| 1993 | Wrestling Ernest Hemingway | Randa Haines | |
| 1994 | I Love Trouble | Charles Shyer | Co-editor with Adam Bernardi & Walter Murch |
| 1996 | Mission: Impossible | Brian De Palma | Nominated—Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Editing Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Editing |
| 1998 | Hard Rain | Mikael Salomon | Co-edited with Amnon David and Gillian L. Hutshing |
| 1998 | Mighty Joe Young | Ron Underwood | |
| 1999 | Lake Placid | Steve Miner | Co-edited with Marshall Harvey |
| 2000 | Mission to Mars | Brian De Palma | |
| 2002 | The Adventures of Pluto Nash | Ron Underwood | Co-edited with Alan Heim |
| 2003 | The Fighting Temptations | Jonathan Lynn | |
| 2004 | Ray | Taylor Hackford | ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature film – Comedy or Musical Nominated—Academy Award for Best Film Editing |
| 2006 | Date Movie | Aaron Seltzer | |
| 2006 | Deck the Halls | John Whitesell | |
| 2008 | Righteous Kill | Jon Avnet | |
| 2010 | Love Ranch | Taylor Hackford | |
| 2011 | Source Code | Duncan Jones | |
| 2011 | Dylan Dog: Dead of Night | Kevin Munroe | |
| 2011 | Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol | Brad Bird | Saturn Award for Best Editing |
| 2016 | Warcraft | Duncan Jones | |
| 2017 | The Mummy | Alex Kurtzman | Co-editor with Gina Hirsch & Andrew Mondshein |

### As additional editor

| Year | Film | Director | Editor(s) | Notes |
| 1979 | Home Movies | Brian De Palma | Corky O'Hara | |
| 1986 | The Clan of the Cave Bear | Michael Chapman | Wendy Greene Bricmont | |
| 2002 | Extreme Ops | Christian Duguay | Clive Barrett Sylvain Lebel | |
| 2007 | Lions for Lambs | Robert Redford | Joe Hutshing | |
| 2012 | Life of Pi | Ang Lee | Tim Squyres | Uncredited |
| 2013 | The Great Gatsby | Baz Luhrmann | Jason Ballantine Jonathan Redmond Matt Villa | |
| 2013 | World War Z | Marc Forster | Roger Barton Matt Chessé | |
| 2018 | The Nutcracker and the Four Realms | Lasse Hallström Joe Johnston | Stuart Levy | |