Harry W. Gerstad (born Harry Donald Gerstad; June 11, 1909 – July 17, 2002) was an American film editor who sometimes directed films. The Academy Award-winning editor also worked on television. He edited as well as directed for the 1950s program Adventures of Superman. In the 1960s he worked for Bing Crosby Productions and Batjac Productions. Gerstad retired to Palm Springs, California in 1973 and lived there until his death in 2002.

Awards and nominations

He won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing (the "Oscar") twice: for the boxing drama Champion in 1949 and for Fred Zinnemann's seminal Western High Noon in 1952. Elmo Williams, who was co-editor of High Noon, indicated in his autobiography that Gerstad's credit was a nominal one. At that time the editorial supervisor (Gerstad) was usually (and often contractually) given superior credit to subordinate editors (Williams), and one responsibility of Gerstad's position was selecting and hiring Williams, who only worked on this one Stanley Kramer production. In 1997, Gerstad received the American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award. Gerstad was honored with a Palm Springs Walk of Stars Golden Palm Star in 2003.

Filmography

Editor

Director