Sally Faulkner

Sally Faulkner (née von Falkenhayn) was born 14 June 1918 in Sankt Goar, Germany. Raised in Hollywood by émigré parents, young Sally dreamed of becoming a film director, graduated from the film school at USC, and landed a job as script girl for George Cukor on Gone with the Wind. In 1939, a job offer from Leni Riefenstahl brought Sally to Berlin, where she worked on films under Nazi director Veit Harlan. As World War Two began, Sally returned to the USA to work on morale films for the Army under director Frank Capra. A chance meeting with Budd Schulberg took Sally to Nuremberg to create filmed evidence for the prosecution at the war crimes trial. In August 1948, Sally was awarded the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal by the Department of Defense for her Nuremberg work, the highest honor for a civilian working for the DoD. After a long and distinguished career as a documentarian and educator, Sally died at The Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills on 11 June 2019, a few days before her 101st birthday.