Oscar-winning Star Wars editor Marcia Lucas dies aged 80
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- Marcia Lucas died at age 80 from metastatic cancer at her home in Rancho Mirage, California, surrounded by loved ones on Wednesday.
- Marcia Lucas won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for 1977's Star Wars (later retitled A New Hope) alongside Richard Chew and Paul Hirsch.
- Marcia Lucas helped forge the emotional core and narrative clarity of the original Star Wars trilogy, especially the complex Death Star battle sequence, as praised by George Lucas.
- Marcia Lucas began her career as a film librarian, earned an Oscar nomination for American Graffiti, and later edited Martin Scorsese films including Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver, and New York, New York.
- Marcia Lucas was married to George Lucas from 1969 to 1983, adopted a daughter Amanda, and later married production manager Tom Rodrigues, with whom she had a second daughter Amy.
Why it matters: Film editors and aspiring women filmmakers lose a trailblazing mentor; Lucasfilm gains renewed interest in her work, boosting viewership of the original Star Wars trilogy.
