Marcia Lucas, the ex-wife of George Lucas who won an Oscar for editing the first Star Wars film in 1977, has died.
Representatives for Marcia Lucas told TMZ that the film legend died on Wednesday after suffering from metastatic cancer. She was 80.
“Marcia will be remembered as a brilliant storyteller, a trailblazer for women in film, a loving mother and grandmother, a generous host, and a loyal friend whose humor and sparkle filled every room she entered. Her influence on film is indelible, but those who knew her best will remember the way she made life feel more vivid, more beautiful, more fun, and more full of love,” Marcia Lucas’ family said in a statement (via Variety).
“Her work was known for its emotional intelligence, rhythm, and humanity — a rare ability to find the truth of a scene and bring heart, momentum, and clarity to the screen,” the statement added.
Born Marcia Lou Griffin on Oct. 4, 1945, in Modesto, Calif., Marcia Lucas was married to George Lucas from 1969 to 1983. Marcia Lucas made her feature debut as a film editor on George Lucas’ 1973 coming-of-age classic American Graffiti. The film earned five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture for producers Francis Ford Coppola and Gary Kurtz, Best Director for George Lucas, and Best Film Editing for Marcia Lucas and Verna Fields.
In 1974, Marcia Lucas teamed with director Martin Scorsese as an editor on the romantic drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. That film earned three Oscar nominations, which yielded a win for Ellen Burstyn for Best Actress and nods for Best Supporting Actress for Diane Ladd and Best Original Screenplay for Robert Getchell.
Marcia Lucas’ Oscar breakthrough came in 1977 in her husband’s space opera Star Wars, which has since been retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. The landmark film earned 10 nominations overall, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for George Lucas, and Best Supporting Actor for Alec Guinness.
The film won six statuettes in all, including Best Film Editing for Marcia Lucas, Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew, and Best Original Score for John Williams.
In a 1977 interview with Rolling Stone, George Lucas recalled his then-Marcia Lucas’ work on editing the original Star Wars’ final battle sequence. The director said she could normally cut a 10-minute reel of film in a week, but the final battle was much more complex.
“I think it took her eight weeks to cut that battle. It was extremely complex and we had 40,000 feet of dialogue footage of pilots saying this and that,” Lucas told Rolling Stone. “And she had to cull through all that, and put in all the fighting as well. Nobody really has ever tried to interweave an actual plot story into a dogfight.”
Marcia Lucas’ Final Film Was An Editor Was ‘Return Of The Jedi’
Marcia Lucas worked with her husband as three more times after the first Star Wars, in an uncredited capacity on More American Graffiti in 1979 and Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back in 1980.
The last time Marcia Lucas teamed with George Lucas was on her final credited film, where she served as an editor on Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi in 1983.
Marcia Lucas is survived by two daughters, Amanda Lucas and Amy Soper, three grandchildren and other family members.