Gene Ruggiero

Who was Gene Ruggiero?

Gene S. Ruggiero was an American film editor. Originally a golf caddy at an exclusive New York country club, Ruggiero was fired from his job and later went to MGM where he was assigned the job of editing. He was initially unhappy with his job and would often skip working to play golf. Eventually, he was demoted to assistant editor, and began working on several Johnny Weissmuller films.

Ruggiero came to prominence after editing the 1939 film Ninotchka. As nobody else would edit the film due to Ernst Lubitsch's reputation, the job was assigned to Ruggiero. He received his first credit on the film, and continued as an editor for the rest of his career. Ruggiero earned an Academy Award for Best Film Editing in 1956 for his work on Around the World in 80 Days, which he shared with Paul Weatherwax. He was also nominated for an Academy Award in 1955 for his editing on Oklahoma!, which he shared with George Boemler.