Michael George Gilligan, a film and video editor of award-winning documentaries, died after a massive brain bleed, the result of a brain aneurysm, on Monday, July 7, 2025, at the age of 88.
Mr. Gilligan was an award-winning editor and a founding partner of Hudson River Film & Video (hudsonriverfilm.org), along with his wife, Sonja Carl Gilligan, and Chuck and Michelle Clifton.
Born on Oct. 30, 1936, and raised in Nebraska City, Nebraska, Mike was the youngest child born to John Philip Gilligan, Jr. MD, a physician and surgeon, and Whilma Snyder Gilligan, a homemaker. James Gilligan MD and John Philip Gilligan, III were his two older brothers. Mike attended public schools except when his mother became sick and he and Jim both attended a Catholic boarding school, St. Bernard’s Academy, for two years. Later, for his junior year in high school, Mike attended The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey.
Mr. Gilligan was in the Class of 1958, when he graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago. It was there that he met the love of his life, fellow art student Sonja Carl. He moved to New York City following his graduation. Later, Sonja joined him and they married on June 24, 1961. In 1964 they bought a beautiful carriage house in Garrison, New York, and began turning what used to be a barn into a home. Mike worked as a professional still photographer for several years.
Mike and Sonja began running encounter group therapy sessions for psychiatrist Dan Casriel, known for starting the Daytop Village treatment centers in the late 1960s. The Gilligans founded their own relationship therapy groups called ‘Fusion Groups’ in the 1970s. Many actors and artists were involved, including Olympia Dukakis and Louis Zorich, among others.
In the early 1970s, Chuck Clifton was planning to film a documentary. Chuck asked Mike if he would like to shoot second camera and then help him edit the film. Mike fell in love with film editing. This sparked the creation of the Hudson River Film & Video Company. Two married couples, the Cliftons and the Gilligans, worked together for over 45 years producing documentaries for public television. Award-winning productions include Christina’s World, narrated by Julie Harris (four Emmys); Henry Hudson’s River: A Biography, narrated by Orson Welles (Emmy); Metro: Manhattan Chowder, narrated by Colleen Dewhurst; Manhood & Violence: Fatal Peril and Jail Talk, documentaries on restorative justice; and Prudence Crandall, Heroine of CT, among others.
On Monday, July 7, the sun set on a wonderful man, husband, father and friend. May he rest in peace and rise in glory. He is survived by his wife, Sonja Carl Gilligan. The Gilligans lost their only child, Patrick Hugo Gilligan, on Jan. 18, 1990, due to a brain tumor, just before his 25th birthday. Mike’s brother, Dr. James Gilligan (Carol Gilligan), survives him. Another brother, John Philip Gilligan III, predeceased him.
Friends may call on Thursday July 10, 2025, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Clinton Funeral Home, 21 Parrott St., in Cold Spring, New York. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, July 11, 2025, at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Loretto Church, 24 Fair St., Cold Spring. Interment will follow in Cold Spring Cemetery.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Clinton Funeral Home- Cold Spring.Â
I have traveled many miles and exposed a lot of footage with Mike Gilligan. He made the time fly and the footage merge with with the ease of talent and great humor. I shall miss his steady professionalism, but most of all a great friendship.