The American film editor Elliot Graham (1976-2026) has died. He passed away on Saturday at the age of 50 in Los Angeles, according to the trade publication The Hollywood Reporter. The magazine cites information from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, which states that Graham died by suicide.
Graham was among Hollywood’s most sought-after editors. For the queer film Milk, he earned an Oscar nomination, and for the James Bond movie No Time to Die (2021) he and Tom Cross shared a BAFTA win. No Time to Die, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, would be his last project as an editor.
Big Break with Milk
Arguably his most significant work arrived in 2008 with Milk. In Milk, director Gus Van Sant, working from a screenplay by Dustin Lance Black, told the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold public office in California. Sean Penn portrayed the title role. The film entered the awards race with eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and went on to win the trophies for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.
How much Graham contributed to that triumph was highlighted after his death by Milk producer Dan Jinks. In a Facebook post, Jinks wrote that the film would not have come together without Graham’s outstanding work. Graham would later collaborate with Van Sant again on the romantic drama Restless (2011) starring Mia Wasikowska.
From Superman to Captain Marvel
Born on June 8, 1976, in Claremont, California, Graham earned his first credit as an editor on Stephen Norrington’s thriller The Last Minute (2001). He shortly afterward contributed to the editing of Bryan Singer’s X2: X-Men United (2003), before Singer brought him back for Superman Returns (2006).
His filmography reads like a tour through two decades of Hollywood. Graham edited Bill Paxton’s The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005), Robert Luketic’s 21 (2008), and Stephen Daldry’s Trash (2014). For Danny Boyle he cut Steve Jobs (2015) with Michael Fassbender, and for Aaron Sorkin Molly’s Game (2017). In 2019 came Captain Marvel from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, with Brie Larson in the lead role.
As an additional editor, he also worked on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), I Am Michael (2015), and Beasts of No Nation (2015).
Also In Demand as a Producer
Graham also left his mark in television. On the FX series Trust (2018), he wasn’t just at the editing desk; he served as a producer as well. The series chronicles the 1973 kidnapping of teenager John Paul Getty III.
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