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, B ...

'', a Western released by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

featuring a young Clint Eastwood 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. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

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'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' in 1973.

Selected filmography

As editor: * ''

Laserblast ''Laserblast'' is a 1978 American science fiction film about an unhappy teenage loner who discovers an alien laser cannon and goes on a murderous rampage, seeking revenge against those who he feels have wronged him. The extremely low-budget film ...

'' (1978) * '' The Thousand Plane Raid'' (1969) * '' Wild on the Beach'' (1965) * '' Stage to Thunder Rock'' (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'' (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, Tom Daly and Ivan Bonar. The film was release ...

'' (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 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 was held up fr ...

'' (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 from ...

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

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'' (1958) * '' Night of the Blood Beast'' (1958) * '' Under Fire'' (1957) * ''

The Deerslayer ''The Deerslayer, or The First War-Path'' (1841) was James Fenimore Cooper's last novel in his ''Leatherstocking Tales''. Its 1740–1745 time period makes it the first installment chronologically and in the lifetime of the hero of the Leathers ...

'' (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-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 Himalayan country (presumabl ...

'' (1954) * '' Murder Without Tears'' (1953) *'' Ghost Town Raiders'' (1951) * '' Kilroy Was Here'' (1947) * '' The Guilty'' (1947) As director: * ''

'' (1958)

References

External links

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