Jodie Copelan (born Joseph Caplan and sometimes credited as Jodie Caplan) was an American film editor who worked on dozens of B movies and TV shows from the late 1940s through the 1970s.

Biography

Beginnings

Jodie was born in Los Angeles, California, to Julius Caplan and Rosie Siegel. He started going by Jodie Copelan professionally early on in his career.

Career

He began working as an assistant editor sometime around the early 1930s, and got his first credit as an editor on 1947's '' The Guilty''. He spent the next 30 years editing and directing films and TV episodes; his sole directorial credit on a feature film came in 1958 with the release of ''

Ambush at Cimarron Pass ''Ambush at Cimarron Pass'' is a 1958 American Western film directed by Jodie Copelan and starring Scott Brady and Clint Eastwood (third billed, later first billed upon reissue). The film also features Margia Dean, Irving Bacon, Frank Gerstle, ...

'', a Western produced by Robert L. Lippert, who Copelan edited many films for. The film was released by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

featuring a young

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

in a supporting role.

Personal life

He married Lillian Schleifer in 1949. Jodie was a lifelong

Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. Founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York, the ...

fan who spent his later years tracking prospects from the farm league. "If I had my life to live over again, it would be in baseball," he told a reporter for ''

The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...

'' in 1973.

Selected filmography

As editor: * ''

Laserblast ''Laserblast'' is a 1978 American independent science fiction film directed by Michael Rae and produced by Charles Band, widely known for producing B movies. Starring Kim Milford, Cheryl Smith and Gianni Russo, featuring Keenan Wynn and Rodd ...

'' (1978) * '' The Thousand Plane Raid'' (1969) * '' Wild on the Beach'' (1965) * ''

Stage to Thunder Rock ''Stage to Thunder Rock'' is a 1964 American Western film directed by William F. Claxton, written by Charles A. Wallace, and featuring Barry Sullivan, Marilyn Maxwell, Scott Brady, Lon Chaney Jr., Keenan Wynn, Anne Seymour, John Agar, Wa ...

'' (1964) * ''

The Young Swingers ''The Young Swingers'' is a 1963 American musical comedy film directed by Maury Dexter and written by Harry Spalding. The film stars Rod Lauren, Molly Bee, Gene McDaniels, Jack Larson, Karen Gunderson and Jo Helton. The film was released in Sept ...

'' (1963) * '' Harbor Lights'' (1963) *''

The Day Mars Invaded Earth ''The Day Mars Invaded Earth'' (a.k.a. ''Spaceraid 63'') is an independently made 1963 black-and-white CinemaScope science fiction film, produced and directed by Maury Dexter, that stars Kent Taylor, Marie Windsor, and William Mims. The film wa ...

'' (1964) * ''

The Yellow Canary ''The Yellow Canary'' is a 1963 American thriller film directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Pat Boone and Barbara Eden. It was adapted by Rod Serling from a novel by Whit Masterson, who also wrote the novel that was the basis for Orson Welles' '' ...

'' (1963) * '' The Firebrand'' (1962) * ''

Womanhunt ''Womanhunt'' is a 1962 American drama film directed by Maury Dexter and written by Russ Bender and Edward J. Lakso. The film stars Steven Piccaro, Lisa Lu, Berry Kroeger, Bob Okazaki, Ann Carroll (actress), Ann Carroll, Tom Daly and Ivan Bonar. ...

'' (1962) * ''

The Purple Hills ''The Purple Hills'' (originally titled "The Vanishing Frontier") is a 1961 American Western film directed by Maury Dexter and written by Russ Bender and Edith Cash Pearl. The film stars Gene Nelson, Kent Taylor, Danny Zapien, Medford Salway, ...

'' (1961) * ''

Night Tide ''Night Tide'' is a 1961 American independent fantasy film sometimes considered to be a horror film, written and directed by Curtis Harrington and featuring Dennis Hopper in his first starring role. It was filmed in 1960, premiered in 1961, but ...

'' (1961) * ''

Ring of Terror ''Ring of Terror'' is a black-and-white 1962 horror film, which centers around a young medical student named Lewis Moffitt who must open a crypt and steal the ring of a deceased man in order to join a fraternity. Directed by Clark L. Paylow fro ...

'' (1961) * '' Counterplot'' (1959) * ''

Machete A machete (; ) is a broad blade used either as an agricultural implement similar to an axe, or in combat like a long-bladed knife. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the Spanish language, the word is possibly a dimin ...

'' (1958) * ''

Night of the Blood Beast ''Night of the Blood Beast'' is a 1958 American science fiction film, science-fiction horror film about a team of scientists who are stalked by an alien creature, which implants its embryos in an astronaut's body during a space flight. Produced ...

'' (1958) * '' Under Fire'' (1957) * ''

The Deerslayer ''The Deerslayer, or The First War-Path'' was James Fenimore Cooper's fifth and last novel published in 1841 in his '' Leatherstocking Tales''. Its 1740–1745 time period makes it the first installment chronologically and in the lifetime of t ...

'' (1957) * '' Apache Warrior'' (1957) * '' Kronos'' (1957) * ''

Battle Taxi ''Battle Taxi'' is a 1955 American aviation drama film directed by Herbert L. Strock and written by Malvin Wald. The film stars Sterling Hayden, Arthur Franz, Marshall Thompson, Leo Needham and Jay Barney. The film was released on January 26, 19 ...

'' (1955) * ''

The Snow Creature ''The Snow Creature'' is a 1954 American science fiction film, science fiction-horror film produced and directed by W. Lee Wilder, for Planet Filmplays Inc., written by Myles Wilder, and starring Paul Langton. Plot In an undisclosed Himalaya ...

'' (1954) * ''

Murder Without Tears ''Murder Without Tears'' is a 1953 American thriller film directed by William Beaudine, starring Craig Stevens, Joyce Holden and Richard Benedict. Plot Cast * Craig Stevens as Detective Sergeant Steve O'Malley * Joyce Holden as Joyce Fit ...

'' (1953) *'' Ghost Town Raiders'' (1951) * ''

Kilroy Was Here Kilroy was here is a meme that became popular during World War II, typically seen in graffiti. Its origin is debated, but the phrase and the distinctive accompanying doodle became associated with G.I. (military), GIs in the 1940s: a bald-head ...

'' (1947) * '' The Guilty'' (1947) As director: * ''

'' (1958)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Copelan, Jodie American film editors 1914 births 1977 deaths Film directors from Los Angeles