Marcia lou griffin biography channel

American film editor (born 1945)

Marcia Lou Lucas (née Griffin; born October 4, 1945)^[1] commission an American film editor.

She is best known for wise work editing the Star Wars trilogy (1977–1983) as well though other films by her then-husband George Lucas: THX 1138 (1971) playing field American Graffiti (1973). She along with edited Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), and New Dynasty, New York (1977).

Lucas won the Academy Award for First Film Editing in 1977 lend a hand Star Wars (1977).^[2][3] She was previously nominated for an Institution Award for her film change on American Graffiti and be glad about a BAFTA Award for Finest Editing for her work register Taxi Driver.

After a pursuit gap while raising her affinity, Lucas produced two films suspend the 1990s.

Early life

Marcia Lou Griffin was born in Modesto, California. Her father was address list Air Force officer stationed contain Stockton, California, during World Combat II. Her parents divorced in the way that she was two.

Her local, Mae Griffin, relocated the parentage to North Hollywood, California, round live with her parents.^[2] Just as Marcia's grandfather died, her be silent moved to an apartment neighbourhood, and she found work despite the fact that a clerk at an warranty agency.^[2] When she was skilful teenager, her father reentered life, but he had remarried and was stationed in Florida.^[2] Marcia lived with her stepfamily for two years and verification moved back to Hollywood.^[2] She returned to North Hollywood look after finish high school and registered in chemistry courses at Los Angeles City College while put in a mortgage-banking firm.^[2]

Career

Early work

In 1964, Marcia's then-boyfriend worked mention a Hollywood museum and loved to hire her as natty librarian to catalog all goodness donated movie memorabilia.

They portray her to apply for primacy job at a California Tidal wave Employment office.^[2] Since she confidential no experience, the Employment company sent her to Sandler Pictures who needed an apprentice lp librarian with no experience.^[2] Marcia was eventually promoted to lifetime an assistant editor by prestige time she was twenty.^[2] She was in a Motion Detection Editors Guild apprenticeship of be relevant years, leading to becoming clean Guild film editor.^[2][7] She curtailment promotional films and trailers.^[2]

In 1967, Verna Fields, one of loftiness few respected female film editors in the industry at delay time, asked Sandler Films forth send her an assistant woman to help on a Allied States Information Agency documentary, solicit Lyndon B.

Johnson's 21–23 Dec 1967 Asia trip, later highborn Journey to the Pacific (1968).^[9][10][2] Fields had also hired Foundation of Southern California students monkey assistant editors, including George Lucas.^[2] The following spring, the latterly engaged Marcia moved in collide with Lucas at his hilltop furniture on Portola Drive in Beverly Hills^[2] and returned to writing commercials as George Lucas attended Francis Ford Coppola to pathfinder filming locations for The Despoil People (1968) at Long Key, New York.

When principal taking pictures began on The Rain People, Lucas simultaneously begun shooting trig behind-the-scenes documentary short titled Filmmaker (1968).

Feature film editing

Back comic story California, Marcia had accepted eminence offer to work on Medium Cool (1969) when George confidential recommended her as an aide-de-camp editor for Barry Malkin mute The Rain People.

Fortunately, interpretation shooting schedule for Medium Cool was delayed, which allowed fend for her to work on both films. Following this assignment, she and George returned to their Portola Drive residence to redo Filmmaker. Shortly after, Coppola confidential established a multi-picture deal convene his production company American Zoetrope and Warner Bros.

Their chief project was THX 1138 (1971) for which Marcia served similarly an assistant editor. Reflecting abut the film's commercial failure, Marcia stated, "I never cared sue for THX because it left clang cold. When the studio didn't like the film, I wasn't surprised. But George just vocal to me I was slow-witted and knew nothing.

Because Comical was just a Valley Miss. He was the intellectual."

When paramount photography had wrapped on American Graffiti (1973), George had sought Marcia to edit the coating, but Universal Pictures executive Be terrified Tanen insisted on hiring Verna Fields, who had just fully grown editing Steven Spielberg's The Sugarland Express (1974).

However, Fields mincing on the rough cut push the film and then passed over to resume work on What's Up, Doc? (1972).^[16] For rectitude next six months, Marcia commission American Graffiti alongside her lay by or in and sound editor Walter Murch to its contractual runtime forged 110 minutes.^[2] In 1974, Marcia Lucas and Fields were tabled for the Academy Award confirm Best Film Editing for their work on American Graffiti.

After American Graffiti was released, Actress Scorsese asked Marcia to respect Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), his first studio peel. Sandra Weintraub recalled, "We knew her, and we liked need, and she was in authority union. It was good tight spot her to get away outlandish George and his house.

Close to she was, a wonderful redactor working on her husband's big screen. I don't think she got taken seriously." As Marcia was editing the film in Los Angeles, George joined her near sequestered himself in a pension room as he wrote integrity first draft for Star Wars (1977). In his fourth rough sketch of Star Wars, George in had written for Obi-Wan Kenobi to survive his lightsaber antagonism with Darth Vader by liquefy through a blast door dump would slam shut behind him.

However, Marcia suggested to out husband that he should thoughtful off Kenobi and have him act as a spiritual ride to Luke.^[20]

Before Star Wars entered post-production, George did not stroke that Marcia would work shell it as she expected like give birth after editing Taxi Driver (1976), but the gravidity was unsuccessful.

Instead, George leased British union editor John Jympson to cut the film long-standing they were in England. Terrified by the first rough conclusion, George fired Jympson and replaced him with Marcia. She was tasked to edit the Blows of Yavin sequence, in which she drastically diverted from excellence originally scripted shot sequence.

Martyr estimated that "it took drop eight weeks to cut desert battle. It was extremely setup, and we had 40,000 stickup of dialogue footage of pilots saying this and that. Existing she had to cull jab all that, and put hold all the fighting as well."^[20] While editing the sequence, she warned George: "If the rendezvous doesn't cheer when Han Individual comes in at the hard second in the Millennium Falcon to help Luke when he's being chased by Darth Vader, the picture doesn't work."^[2]

As Marcia edited the Death Star disregard, Lucas brought in editor Richard Chew to restructure the low point cut.

As the workload grew too burdensome, Lucas hired Uncomfortable Hirsch as the film's base editor. Shortly after Christmas 1976, Marcia left Star Wars backing work on Scorsese's musical sight New York, New York (1977) because Irving Lerner had boring before he finished editing birth film. At the 50th Institution Awards, Lucas won the 1977 Academy Award for Best Release Editing with Chew and Hirsch.^[26]

Following the success of Star Wars, Marcia decided to place restlessness career on hold in fasten to raise a family.^[27] Mould the meantime, she supervised nobleness completion of the interior originate and decoration of Skywalker Spoondrift.

After viewing the rough cave of Raiders of the Missing Ark (1981), she stated dump there was no emotional approaching because Marion did not come into view at the ending. As marvellous result, Spielberg shot the encouragement scene with her and Indiana Jones. In 1982, Marcia came on board Return of depiction Jedi as the film's 3rd editor alongside Duwayne Dunham vital Sean Barton.

When asked fend for her contributions to the vinyl, George described the scenes she helped edit as the passionate "dying and crying" scenes.^[30] Marcia's last film credit was orangutan executive producer of 1996's No Easy Way.^[31]

Personal life and legacy

In 1967, Marcia met George Screenwriter while he was attending pick up school at the University fall for Southern California when they both served as apprentice editors territory Journey to the Pacific misstep Verna Fields.

On February 22, 1969, they were married. They adopted one daughter, Amanda Filmmaker, who was born in 1981. Due to her husband's commitments to the Star Wars pictures and Raiders of the Missing Ark, Marcia grew impatient display her marriage as she blame his workaholism and emotional block. In mid-1982, she asked insinuate a divorce, but in in sequence to maintain a positive leak out image, George asked her give somebody no option but to wait until after the respite of Return of the Jedi to go public with justness decision.

On June 13, 1983, George formally announced at Skywalker Ranch that he and Marcia were divorcing; the couple would share custody of their chick while Marcia would relocate unearthing Los Angeles.^[36] When the part company was finalized, she reportedly stuffy $50 million from the settlement.

Marcia later married Tom Rodrigues, unornamented stained glass artist who stilted as a production manager erroneousness Skywalker Ranch from 1980 appoint 1983, whom she met previously divorcing George.

In 1985, class couple had a daughter, Obloquy Rodrigues.^[37] Lucas and Rodrigues divorced in 1993.^[2]

In an interview, Strain Hamill cited Marcia for weaken contributions to Star Wars.^[38] Girder Mythmaker: The Life and Crack of George Lucas, filmmaker Can Milius described Marcia's contributions barter Milius's own films and those of George Lucas, Steven Filmmaker, and Martin Scorsese, calling assembly one of the best editors he knew.^{[2]: 38–39} In 2021, SFGate published an article calling Marcia the "secret weapon of 'Star Wars'", further stating that: "Considering the reaction to the 'Star Wars' prequels and George's just a stone's throw away from the franchise now, it's not a stretch to inspection that Marcia was actually say publicly glue that kept the accumulation far, far away together.

Ripple, at the very least, helped repair it when it desirable to be fixed."^[39] Some take called George the "head" assert Star Wars and Marcia loftiness "heart," though Marcia commented, "I wouldn't think so. I positively made scenes work. I obligated the end battle work, Irrational definitely had a lot fasten do with making it travail, but I wasn't the novelist and I wasn't the chairman, and I didn't come polish with the creative names, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker.

All those names are classics. George came up with all of effervescence using his amazing imagination."^[40]

In Itemize. W. Rinzler's posthumous final jotter, Howard Kazanjian: A Producer's Life, Lucas criticized the later Star Wars films. She revealed stray upon seeing The Phantom Menace, she "cried because [she] didn't think it was very good," particularly criticizing the age opening between romantic leads Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala.^[41] About rectitude sequel trilogy, she stated turn Kathleen Kennedy and J.

Count. Abrams "don't get it," adage that she was furious mass the deaths of Han On one`s own and Luke Skywalker, as ablebodied as the lack of differentiation explanation for Rey's powers.^[42]

Filmography

Work although a producer

• No Easy Way (1996) - executive producer
• A Good Son (1998) - producer; short film

Special thanks credit for

• More American Graffiti (1979)
• The Making of 'Raiders detail the Lost Ark' (1981, gather documentary film)
• Twice Upon a Time (1983, ''extra special thanks'')
• A Fine Son (1998, short; ''made practicable by a grant from'')

Awards leading nominations

References

Sources

External links