Margaret Booth (January 16, 1898 – October 28, 2002) was an American
film editor
Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film which increasingly involves the use of digital technology.
The film edit ...
.
Early life and career
Born in Los Angeles, she started her Hollywood career as a "patcher", editing films by
D. W. Griffith, around 1915. Her brother was actor
Elmer Booth
William Elmer Booth (December 9, 1882 – June 16, 1915) was an American stage and film actor. He was born in Los Angeles, California and was the elder brother of Margaret Booth, a renowned film editor for Hollywood productions for nearly 70 year ...
. Later, she worked for
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...
when he was an independent film producer. When Mayer merged with others to form
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
in 1924, she worked as a director's assistant with that company. She edited several films starring
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, ...
, including ''
Camille'' (1936).
Booth edited such diverse films as ''
Wise Girls'' (1929), ''
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set h ...
'' (1935, for which she was nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
), ''
A Yank at Oxford
''A Yank at Oxford'' is a 1938 comedy-drama film directed by Jack Conway and starring Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan, Vivien Leigh and Edmund Gwenn. The screenplay was written by John Monk Saunders and Leon Gordon. The ...
'' (1938), ''
The Way We Were
''The Way We Were'' is a 1973 American romantic drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. Arthur Laurents wrote both the novel and screenplay based on his college days at Cornell University and his ...
'' (1973), ''
The Sunshine Boys
''The Sunshine Boys'' is an original two-act play written by Neil Simon that premiered December 20, 1972 on Broadway starring Jack Albertson as Willie Clark and Sam Levene as Al Lewis and later adapted for film and television.
Plot
The play's ...
'' (1975), ''
The Goodbye Girl
''The Goodbye Girl'' is a 1977 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross, written by Neil Simon and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Quinn Cummings and Paul Benedict. The film, produced by Ray Stark, centers on an od ...
'' (1977), ''
The Cheap Detective
''The Cheap Detective'' is a 1978 American mystery comedy film written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.
It stars Peter Falk as Lou Peckinpaugh, a parody of Humphrey Bogart. The film is a parody of Bogart films such as '' Casablan ...
'' (1978), ''
Seems Like Old Times'' (1980), and ''
Annie
Annie may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress
* Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer
The ...
'' (1982). She was supervising editor and associate producer on several films for producer
Ray Stark
Raymond Otto Stark (October 3, 1915 – January 17, 2004) was one of the most successful and prolific independent film producers in postwar Hollywood. Stark's background as a literary and theatrical agent prepared him to produce some of the most ...
, culminating with executive producer credit on ''
The Slugger's Wife
''The Slugger's Wife'' is a 1985 romantic comedy film about a baseball star who falls for a singer. Written by Neil Simon, directed by Hal Ashby and produced by Ray Stark, the film stars Michael O'Keefe, Rebecca De Mornay, and Randy Quaid. It wa ...
'' (1985) when she was 87. Her list of official credits, however, represents only a fraction of her film work. In its 1982 article about Booth's long tenure as MGM's supervising film editor, the ''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...
'' describes her as "the final authority of every picture the studio made for 30 years."
Awards
The
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...
in 1978 presented her an
Academy Honorary Award
The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Moti ...
for her work in film editing. She is the second longest-lived person (after
Luise Rainer
Luise Rainer ( , ; 12 January 1910 – 30 December 2014) was a German-American-British film actress. She was the first thespian to win multiple Academy Awards and the first to win back-to-back; at the time of her death, thirteen days shy of her ...
) to have been given an Oscar. In 1983, she was awarded the
Women in Film Crystal Award
The Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards—first presented in 1977 by the now–Los Angeles chapter of the Women in Film organization—were presented to honor women in communications and media. The awards include the Crystal Award, the Lucy Awar ...
for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry. In 1990, Booth was also honored with the
American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award The American Cinema Editors (ACE) gives one or more Career Achievement Awards each year. The first awards were given in 1988. Article indicates that Milford received the ACE Career Achievement Award in 1987; the actual award year appears to be 1988. ...
.
Death and legacy
Booth, at age 104, died in 2002 from complications after suffering a
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
. She is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood California. In its obituary for Booth, the British newspaper ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' states, "All the filmmakers had to go through her in order to have a final editing of sound and vision approved," while describing her approach: She was the first "cutter" to be called a "film editor."
Selected filmography
*''
Fine Clothes
''Fine Clothes'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by John M. Stahl and starring Lewis Stone, Percy Marmont, and Alma Rubens. It is based on a play adapted from Ferenc Molnár's original.
The film's sets were designed by the art d ...
'' (1925)
* ''
Memory Lane'' (1926)
* ''
The Enemy'' (1927)
* ''
Bringing Up Father
''Bringing Up Father'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist George McManus. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, it ran for 87 years, from January 2, 1913, to May 28, 2000.
The strip was later titled ''Jiggs and Maggie'' (or ''M ...
'' (1928)
* ''
Wise Girls'' (1929)
* ''
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set h ...
'' (1935)
* ''
Camille'' (1936)
* ''
A Yank at Oxford
''A Yank at Oxford'' is a 1938 comedy-drama film directed by Jack Conway and starring Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan, Vivien Leigh and Edmund Gwenn. The screenplay was written by John Monk Saunders and Leon Gordon. The ...
'' (1938)
* ''
The Way We Were
''The Way We Were'' is a 1973 American romantic drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. Arthur Laurents wrote both the novel and screenplay based on his college days at Cornell University and his ...
'' (1973)
* ''
The Sunshine Boys
''The Sunshine Boys'' is an original two-act play written by Neil Simon that premiered December 20, 1972 on Broadway starring Jack Albertson as Willie Clark and Sam Levene as Al Lewis and later adapted for film and television.
Plot
The play's ...
'' (1975)
* ''
The Goodbye Girl
''The Goodbye Girl'' is a 1977 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross, written by Neil Simon and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Quinn Cummings and Paul Benedict. The film, produced by Ray Stark, centers on an od ...
'' (1977)
* ''
The Cheap Detective
''The Cheap Detective'' is a 1978 American mystery comedy film written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.
It stars Peter Falk as Lou Peckinpaugh, a parody of Humphrey Bogart. The film is a parody of Bogart films such as '' Casablan ...
'' (1978)
* ''
Seems Like Old Times'' (1980)
* ''
Annie
Annie may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress
* Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer
The ...
'' (1982)
See also
*
List of centenarians (actors, filmmakers and entertainers)
The following is a list of centenarians – specifically, people who became famous as actors, filmmakers and entertainers – known for reasons other than their longevity. For more lists, see lists of centenarians
The following is a list of list ...
References
External links
*
Margaret Boothat Women Film Pioneers Project
October 31, 2002 obituary–
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
*Gomery, Douglas (2000)
"Margaret Booth,"in Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast (editors), ''International Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers, Edition 4'' (St. James Press), . Online version of article retrieved December 24, 2007.
*Lewis, Kevin (2006)
in ''Editors Guild Magazine'', Vol 27, No. 2 (March–April 2006). Archived at WebCite fro
2008-06-22.
*
Literature on Margaret Booth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Margaret
1898 births
2002 deaths
Agnes Scott College people
American centenarians
American film editors
Film producers from California
Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery
People from Los Angeles
Academy Honorary Award recipients
Women film pioneers
American women film producers
American women film editors
Women centenarians
20th-century American women