---
name: "Harry Gerstad"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/harry-gerstad"
roles: ["Editor"]
born: "11 June 1909"
died: "17 July 2002"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-20T01:44:11.911918+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Harry Gerstad

Editor. Born 11 June 1909 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Died 17 July 2002.

## Details

- **Work:** Editor
- **Born:** 11 June 1909, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- **Died:** 17 July 2002
- **Active:** 1947–1952
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscars (2 won)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 77 (1), 1950s 88 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_W._Gerstad, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1380406, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0314899/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4167

## Biography

Harry Gerstad was an American film editor who sometimes directed. Born Harry Donald Gerstad on 11 June 1909, he was the son of silent-film cinematographer Harry W. Gerstad. He began working in film laboratories in 1929 at Hal Roach Studios, later at Warner Bros. and Republic Pictures.

After the Second World War he edited features at RKO, often with director Edward Dmytryk, including *The Spiral Staircase* (1946), *Crossfire* (1947) and *Till the End of Time* (1946). From 1949 he served as editorial supervisor for Stanley Kramer at Columbia Pictures, editing *Champion* (1949), *Home of the Brave* (1949), *Cyrano de Bergerac* (1950) and *Death of a Salesman* (1951). He shared an Academy Award for Best Film Editing on *High Noon* (1952) with Elmo Williams.

Gerstad also edited for Bing Crosby Productions and John Wayne’s Batjac Productions in the 1960s, and worked on the television series *Adventures of Superman*, directing some episodes. He received the American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award in 1997. He retired in 1973 and lived in Palm Springs, California, until his death on 17 July 2002.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, catalog.afi.com, variety.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *High Noon* (1952), Fi1m 88, Supervising Film Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/high-noon.md)
- *Crossfire* (1947), Fi1m 77, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/crossfire.md)

## Complete filmography (34)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Framed* (1975), Editor
- *Walking Tall* (1973), Editor
- *Ben* (1972), Editor
- *Big Jake* (1971), Editor
- *Cover Me Babe* (1970), Editor
- *Hard Contract* (1969), Editor
- *The Secret Life of an American Wife* (1968), Editor
- *The War Wagon* (1967), Editor
- *The Magic Sword* (1962), Supervising Editor
- *Walk on the Wild Side* (1962), Editor
- *Freckles* (1960), Editor
- *Aftermath* (1960), Editor
- *13 Fighting Men* (1960), Director
- *The Alligator People* (1959), Editor, Supervising Film Editor
- *Frontier Gun* (1958), Editor
- *Highway Patrol* (1955), series, Director
- *Combat Squad* (1953), Editor
- *The Juggler* (1953), Editor
- *Eight Iron Men* (1952), Supervising Editor
- *Adventures of Superman* (1952), series, Director
- *High Noon* (1952), Supervising Film Editor — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/high-noon.md)
- *My Six Convicts* (1952), Supervising Editor
- *Death of a Salesman* (1951), Editor
- *Cyrano de Bergerac* (1950), Editor
- *The Men* (1950), Editor
- *Rocketship X-M* (1950), Editor
- *Gun Crazy* (1950), Editor
- *Home of the Brave* (1949), Editor
- *Champion* (1949), Editor
- *Unknown Island* (1948), Editor
- *Crossfire* (1947), Editor — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/crossfire.md)
- *So Well Remembered* (1947), Editor
- *Till the End of Time* (1946), Editor
- *The Spiral Staircase* (1946), Editor

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 2 won

- 1953: Best Film Editing (won), for *High Noon*
- 1950: Best Film Editing (won), for *Champion*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/harry-gerstad