MARCH 9, 1925 – FEB. 16, 2023
Ellen Hovde, an acclaimed documentarian who was a member of the Editors Guild for more than 50 years, died on Feb. 16 in New York. She was 97.
Hovde was best-known for her work with the legendary documentary filmmakers Albert and David Maysles. She edited “Gimme Shelter,” a much-discussed look at the Rolling Stones during their notorious 1969 Altamont concert. She was also one of four credited directors of “Grey Gardens,” a groundbreaking 1975 documentary that peered into the private lives of Edith Beale and her grown daughter “Little Edie,” relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who eked out an existence in a ramshackle mansion in the Hamptons.
“Grey Gardens” later became a Tony-winning Broadway musical and a critically acclaimed 2009 HBO scripted film adaptation starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore.
Born in Pennsylvania, Hovde grew up in Pittsburgh and attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology. In 1950, she married Matthew Huxley, son of the author Aldous Huxley; the pair later divorced.
She is survived by her children, Tessa and Mark Huxley.
– Guild staff
