Jeff Dell, a film editor, artist, and collector of art who lived in East Hampton, died at his Upper East Side, Manhattan, residence on June 6 after a short illness. He was 87.
For 35 years he was the owner and operator of Jeff Dell Film Service, a postproduction firm. He won two Clio Awards, which recognize innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, for a “Wide World of Sports” commercial and for a Timex commercial. He also won an award from the N.A.A.C.P. for a short film he produced and directed. He produced and directed several other short films as well.
Jeffrey Carter Dell was born on Dec. 10, 1935, in New York City to Martin Dell, a cartoonist, and the former Dorothy Heuser. He grew up in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens and attended Public School 69 there. Apart from Queens and Teaneck, N.J., where he lived from 1970 to 1983, he was a resident of Manhattan and East Hampton.
He served in the Army and was stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey, after which he attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.
He and the former Bunny Rosmarin were married on Aug. 7, 1960. They had met as camp counselors in 1958 in Putnam Valley, N.Y., according to a 1997 profile of the couple in The Star. Mrs. Dell survives.
A painter himself, he owned works by the artists Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, and Paton Miller, among many others. “Bunny and Jeff Dell are artists and collectors of art by young emerging East End artists,” The Star wrote. “Between their house in East Hampton and apartment in New York City, they own and display about 200 works. . . . The collection lines the walls from one end of their two-story house in Northwest Woods to the other, and it is at the core of their daily lifestyle as well as their environment.”
“He also is the founder and director” of Shoot First Editorial, his film editing shop, The Star reported, “having begun as an animator after graduation from the School of Visual Arts.”
In addition to his wife of 63 years, Mr. Dell is survived by a daughter, Felisa Dell, and a son, Damon Dell, both of New York City. Another son, Allan Dell, died before him.
A memorial service was held at the family’s Manhattan residence.
