Lucasfilm has released a statement mourning the death of Marcia Lucas, the ex-wife of George Lucas, one of the three people who shared the Oscar for editing “Star Wars.”
The editor of iconic ’70s films such as “Taxi Driver” died Wednesday in Rancho Mirage, Calif., after a battle with metastatic cancer. She was 80 years old.
“Lucasfilm is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Marcia Lucas. Lucas, 80, was one of three Oscar-winning editors for 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope,” the statement said.
Furthermore, “After Lucasfilm was founded in 1971, production began on George Lucas’s latest feature film, American Graffiti (1973). Marcia Lucas joined mentor Verna Fields as an editor. , for which they were both nominated for Oscars. Marcia then worked with director Martin Scorsese in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974) and Taxi Driver (1976). Lucasfilm was preparing Star Wars: A New Hope.
“When the film went into post-production, George Lucas realized it needed an almost complete redo, and Richard Chu and Paul Hirsch joined Marcia on the editing team, but Marcia eventually left to work on Scorsese’s New York, New York (1977). She would go on to win an Oscar with Chu and Hirsch for 1978’s Star Wars.”
“In the following years, Marcia contributed to other Lucasfilm productions, including More American Graffiti (1979), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983).
“‘I love film editing,’ Marcia once told a reporter. ‘I have an innate ability to take good material and make it better, and to take bad material and make it fair.’
“Lucasfilm joins the global filmmaking community in mourning the loss of Marcia Lucas.”
Marcia Lucas’ family also released a statement saying, “Her work was known for its emotional intelligence, rhythm and humanity – a rare ability to find the truth in a scene and bring emotion, momentum and clarity to the screen.”
