Oscar-winning editor of original Star Wars films Marcia Lucas dies at 80

The Oscar-winning editor of the original Star Wars films, Marcia Lucas, has died aged 80.

Lucas, who was married to director George Lucas between 1969 and 1983, died on Wednesday surrounded by loved ones in Rancho Mirage, California, from metastatic cancer, a lawyer for her family said.

She was the editor of the original 1977 Star Wars film, 1983's Return of the Jedi, as well as George Lucas's earlier films THX 1138 and American Graffiti.

In the decades since the film franchise's release, Lucas has come to be recognised as a pivotal creative force behind the development of the first Star Wars film, which is now known by its subtitle A New Hope.

She was pivotal in developing Obi-Wan Kenobi's plotline by convincing her then-husband that the character, played by Alec Guinness, should have a lightsaber battle with Darth Vader and become a spirit guide to Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill.

When she was editing the space opera, she was acknowledged for being able to make sense of the raw footage, including the climactic rebel attack on the Death Star, which could have descended into narrative chaos.

"It was extremely complex and we had 40,000 feet of dialogue footage of pilots saying this and that. And she had to cull through all that, and put in all the fighting as well," Lucas told Rolling Stone a few months after the film was released.

"Nobody really has ever tried to interweave an actual plot story into a dogfight, and we were trying to do that."

Lucas was also part of the team that edited director Martin Scorsese's 1970s films Taxi Driver, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and New York, New York.

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Lucas was born Marcia Griffin in Modesto, California shortly after the end of World War II. She moved to Los Angeles with her mother after her parents divorced as a small child.

She began working as a film librarian and moved into working as an editor.

Lucas was an assistant editor on the documentary Journey to the Pacific, where she met George Lucas, who was then a film student.

They became engaged soon after.

After they divorced, she was married to Tom Rodrigues, a production manager at the Skywalker Ranch production centre, from 1983 to 1993.

"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," her family said in a statement released on Friday.

"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."

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