15 Facts About Thelma Schoonmaker

1.

Thelma Schoonmaker is an American film editor, known for her over fifty years of work with director Martin Scorsese.

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2.

Thelma Schoonmaker's started working with Scorsese on his debut feature film Who's That Knocking at My Door, and has edited all of Scorsese's films since Raging Bull (1980).

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3.

Thelma Schoonmaker has received eight Academy Award nominations for Best Film Editing, and has won three times—for Raging Bull, The Aviator, and The Departed (2006), which were all Scorsese-directed films.

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4.

In 1941, the family moved to the Dutch-Caribbean island of Aruba, where Thelma Schoonmaker's father continued to work for Standard Oil and her mother ran nursery schools.

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5.

Thelma Schoonmaker was primarily raised in Aruba, in a community she described as "a colony of expatriates from over the world"; she spent part of her childhood in Portugal.

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6.

Thelma Schoonmaker did not live in the United States until she was an adolescent in 1955, and was initially alienated and dumbfounded by American culture.

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7.

Thelma Schoonmaker was interested in a career in international diplomacy and began attending Cornell University in 1957, where she studied political science and the Russian language.

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8.

Politically inclined and opinionated, Thelma Schoonmaker was opposed to the Vietnam War and supported the Civil Rights Movement.

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9.

Thelma Schoonmaker's passed the State Department exams but failed the final "stress test" when she expressed distaste for the South African policy of apartheid, a stance which did not sit well with those administering the tests.

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10.

Thelma Schoonmaker edited Scorsese's first feature film, Who's That Knocking at My Door.

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11.

At NYU, Thelma Schoonmaker met filmmaker Michael Wadleigh and later edited his influential music festival documentary, Woodstock, on which Scorsese worked.

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12.

Thelma Schoonmaker remarked, "And I just couldn't see why I, who had been a full editor and had been nominated for an Academy Award, should suddenly have to become an apprentice.

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13.

Consequently, Thelma Schoonmaker did not work with Scorsese in a formal capacity in the 1970s; however, she did make an uncredited contribution to Taxi Driver.

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14.

Thelma Schoonmaker's was introduced to Michael Powell by Scorsese and London-based film producer Frixos Constantine.

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15.

Since Powell's death, Thelma Schoonmaker has dedicated herself to preserving the films and honoring the legacy of her husband, who directed many classic films, including The Red Shoes.

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