Marcia Lucas, Editor of ‘Star Wars’, ‘Return of the Jedi’, Dead at 80

We regret to report the death of award-winning film editor and producer Marcia Lucas, best known for her work on Star Wars (1977) and Return of the Jedi (1983), from metastatic cancer. She was 80.

Marcia Lou Griffin was born October 4, 1945 in Modesto, California. She passed away on May 27, 2026, at her vacation home in Rancho, Mirage, CA.

Marcia Lucas was well recognized by both the motion picture and science fiction communities. She was nominated for the Academy Award, the Saturn Award, and the BAFTA for best film editing for the original Star Wars. She won the 1978 Academy and Saturn awards. She was also nominated for BAFTA awards for best editing: for Taxi Driver (1978), and for for American Graffiti (1973).

“’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.’ Her ex-husband, George Lucas, credited her with improving the Battle of Yavin sequence.

Filmaker John Milius, famous for The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1982) and The Wind and the Lion (1975) described Marcia Lucas as “one of the best editors I know.”  

Some have called George the “head” of Star Wars and Marcia the “heart,” though Marcia commented: “I wouldn’t think so. I definitely made scenes work. I made the end battle work, I definitely had a lot to do with making it work, but I wasn’t the writer and I wasn’t the director.”

As a successful female in a largely male-dominated industry, Marcia Lucas was an inspiration to many female would-be filmmakers.

She was married and divorced three times. She is survived by her two daughters, Amanda Lucas and Amy Rodrigues, and one grandson, as well as millions of grieving fans.

Editor

• The Rain People (1969)
• Medium Cool (1959)
• The Candidate (1972)
• Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
• New York, New York (1977)
• Return of the Jedi (1983)

Producer

• No Easy Way (1996)
• The Good Son (1997)

Next of Kin

Marcia Lucas was married to George Lucas, her frequent collaborator, from 1969 to 1983 when she divorced George and married artist Tom Rodrigues; they divorced in 1993. Her third husband was George Michael Cooper.

Our condolences to the Griffin and Lucas families, especially to her sister Lynne Mae Griffin, her daughters Amanda Lucas Hallikainen and Amy Rodrigues, and her grandson, Felix Hallikainen.