Sally Menke (1953-2010)

They say if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.

When I first met Sally Menke, we got off on the wrong foot. We were on the set of Inglourious Basterds, during the shooting of the cafe scene where Shosanna has been taken to meet Goebbels for the first time, and Sally arrived with her children. We were introduced, and I said (words to the effect of), “Oh, the famous Sally!” She looked blank, and I followed this with (words to the effect of), “I've seen your reel,” meaning the “Hello, Sally” reel from Death Proof, the one where the actors chirp, “Hello, Sally!” and wave to her in the editing room (I think it began as a sound thing, but fast became a tradition of its own). I forget what she said to this, but it was quite brusque, so I left the conversation there.

Flash-forward a year or so and I next saw Sally in February at a party that was being held for Quentin Tarantino at the Groucho Club, two nights before the Baftas. That party is a story unto itself, involving Mickey Rourke, Dustin Hoffman and a discussion between Tarantino and Edgar Wright about the merits of Michael Winner. But at one point I saw Sally, and I thought, Well, maybe I should give it another go. And now I'm so glad I did. That first encounter must have just been a misunderstanding – as Chris Hewitt will confirm, she was on terrific form that night. We spoke for almost an hour, and she answered almost every question we put to her, including quite personal ones, such as whether an Oscar nomination bumped her fee up (I don't recall her exact reply, but it was along the lines of “Not much but enough”). I do remember, however, that she was firm about not taking work she wasn't keen on, and would quite happily wait for Tarantino for as long as it took, although she was very excited to be working on The Green Hornet (with fellow guest that night Christoph Waltz), for which she'd just been hired. Another thing I remember about that night is that Sally was very frank about some situations she'd been in professionally; I won't repeat them, but it proved to me that she was not a pushover.

The next time I saw her was at a party on the following Sunday, after she lost out at the Baftas. I offered my commiseration but she didn't seem too upset and took her defeat most gracefully. That night, I also met Tarantino's longtime production designer David Wasco, who has worked on all QT's films bar (I think) Grindhouse, and I thought then that I had the beginnings of a great story for my next Tarantino set visit; indeed, when I spoke to Tarantino in Venice the other week I told him that I was SO ready for it (and, until Sally's death, it was further along than you might think). By this I meant that I planned to sit down with both David and Sally and get all their stories on the record, and, since Sally was only 56 and clearly fit and healthy, I figured there'd be plenty of time for that.

How wrong. Ian Freer forwarded the news on Tuesday that Sally's body had been found in Griffith Park, and slowly the parts began to fit together. The jungle drums had been saying for a few days that LA had been sweltering, and it seems that, on Monday morning, Sally set off with a friend, and her dog, for a walk. At some point the friend turned back, but Sally carried on, and I can't help wondering what that friend is going through right now. But I think it says a lot about Sally that she thought she could handle it; after you've weathered the storm that is Harvey Weinstein, what's a heatwave?

I can't add much to the obituaries online – especially the one here – but I will say that what has often irked me about the various criticisms (and appreciations) of Tarantino's films is that they often underestimate what a collaborative effort his productions are. Sally Menke was a very, very, very important part of that process, if not THE most important part, and her loss will be massive blow to the whole Tarantino extended family. As for me, I wish I'd sat down with her that last time she was here and recorded her story for posterity. Instead, before I knew it, she was gone, and gone much too soon.