The Star Wars galaxy has lost one of its most important leaders.
Marcia Lucas, the ex-wife of Star Wars creator George Lucas and the editor of the first film in the franchise, died on May 27 from metastatic cancer, her family confirmed to TMZ. They told the outlet she passed away in her home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and was surrounded by her loved ones. She was 80.
In a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle, her family shared that Marcia was “a true trailblazer for women in film and one of the most influential editors in cinematic history.”
Marcia first met George in 1967 when they were both hired to assist legendary editor Verna Fields on a documentary project. The two soon began dating and were married in 1969.
Around the same time, Marcia began her professional editing career, working as an assistant editor on Francis Ford Coppola’s 1969 film The Rain People and assisted on George’s first full-length feature film, THX 1138 (1971).