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Marcia Lucas, the Oscar-winning film editor of \u201cStar Wars<\/a>,\u201d died Wednesday in Rancho Mirage after a battle with cancer. She was 80.<\/p>\n \u201cMarcia 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,\u201d a family statement said. \u201cHer work was known for its emotional intelligence, rhythm, and humanity \u2014 a rare ability to find the truth of a scene and bring heart, momentum, and clarity to the screen.\u201d<\/p>\n Marcia, who was married to George Lucas<\/a> for more than a decade, was widely regarded as instrumental in making the \u201cStar Wars\u201d trilogy the juggernaut it became. But she garnered urban legend status<\/a> for making the call to kill off one major and beloved character.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there was anything that was dramatic or emotional, George gave it to Marcia and George always said: keep one person whose opinion you trust to the very end, and that was Marcia,\u201d said editor and director Duwayne Dunham<\/a>. <\/p>\n She also co-edited \u201cAmerican Graffiti<\/a>,\u201d which nabbed her an Oscar nomination, Martin Scorsese\u2019s \u201cAlice Doesn\u2019t Live Here Anymore,\u201d \u201cTaxi Driver,<\/a>\u201d \u201cNew York, New York,\u201d and then in 1978, she won an Oscar for \u201cStar Wars: Episode IV \u2014 A New Hope<\/a>,\u201d alongside co-editors Richard Chew and Paul Hirsch.<\/p>\n Mark Hamill<\/a>, who starred as Luke Skywalker in the \u201cStar Wars\u201d franchise, posted a tribute to Lucas on social media, writing that he and his wife, Marilou York, are deeply saddened by the loss of their \u201clifelong friend, Marcia.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot just a gifted, innovative artist, she also happened to be a genuinely nice person,\u201d he continued. \u201cSmart, funny, & just plain fun to be around. Thankfully, her memory lives on and we will never stop missing her.\u201d<\/p>\n Lucas was born Marcia Lou Griffin on Oct. 4, 1945, in Modesto but was raised in North Hollywood. She told True West Film Center<\/a> that she was a \u201creal rags to riches story\u201d and was raised by a single mother. \u201cWe lived hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck,\u201d she said. \u201cI never knew anybody in the film business, the music business, the radio business. … I didn\u2019t go to school with people who were kids that were associated with the industry. But when I used to go home after school, I would sit and watch old movies. It was like I was getting an education in movies.\u201d <\/p>\n When she was 18, she landed a job as an apprentice film librarian at the Sandler Film Library in Hollywood. When the library was slow, the assistant editor taught Marcia about post-production and TV commercials. When he left, she took over. <\/p>\n By the mid-1960s, Marcia was ready to move on from the Sandler but was told editors \u201cdidn\u2019t want women in the cutting room,\u201d so she worried her ambition to make it big in the field was at a dead end. \u201cBut then I had a friend who had a friend who knew a woman in Van Nuys \u2014 Verna Fields<\/a> \u2014 who liked to hire women.\u201d <\/p>\n Marcia was hired. <\/p>\n It was while she was working for Fields as an assistant that she met George Lucas, then a USC film student whom Fields considered talented. Because Marcia was the most experienced assistant, Fields asked her to help the young filmmaker. <\/p>\n Marcia described him as \u201cvery intense\u201d in the cutting room. \u201cWe worked together, and then after the film was done, we started dating,\u201d Marcia told True West Film Center. \u201cI used to say, \u2018I don\u2019t understand why you\u2019re such a cold fish,\u2019 and George would say, \u2018I may be a cold fish, but you\u2019re full of beans\u2019 \u2014 and that was our chemistry. That chemistry worked for us for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n The couple married in 1969 and divorced in 1983, but during their time together they made the original \u201cStar Wars\u201d trilogy. The couple split before \u201cReturn of the Jedi\u201d was released but waited to publicly announce their divorce until shortly after the film hit theaters.<\/p>\n