One of the most distinguished film editors of the American cinema, and often considered one of the most imaginative and creative, Dede Allen has been associated with directors as varied as Arthur Penn (six films) and Sidney Lumet (four movies) and actors-turned-directors Paul Newman and Warren Beatty. She garnered two Oscar nominations in her long career: for Lumet's urban comedy "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975) and Beatty's biopic of journalist John Reed, "Reds" (1981).

Allen began her career as a messenger at Columbia Pictures in the early 1940s. Editing, like writing, was one place in pre-World