Margaret Booth facts for kids

Margaret Booth (born January 16, 1898 – died October 28, 2002) was an amazing American film editor. She worked in movies for 70 years! She was best known for her work at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), a famous movie studio.

A Life in Movies: Margaret Booth's Story

Starting Out: Early Life and First Job

Margaret Booth was born in Los Angeles, California, on January 16, 1898. Her older brother, Elmer Booth, was an actor. He worked for a famous director named D. W. Griffith.

In 1915, Elmer sadly died in a car accident. After his funeral, D. W. Griffith offered Margaret a job. She would work as a film joiner, also called a negative cutter. This job helped her family earn money.

Learning the Ropes: Editing for D. W. Griffith

Margaret had just finished high school at Los Angeles High School. Griffith hired her for ten dollars a week. She was one of several women who edited films for his studio.

Margaret remembered how hard the work was. "In the old days," she said, "we had to cut negative by eye." This meant matching the film by looking very closely, without special numbers to guide them. It was very careful and slow work. One of the films she helped with was Orphans of the Storm (1921), which starred Lillian Gish. After a few months, Margaret also worked for Paramount Pictures. There, she put together the colored parts of films.

Becoming an Expert: Editing at MGM

In 1921, Margaret started working for Louis B. Mayer. He had his own movie studio. Margaret watched director John M. Stahl in the editing room. Stahl was a perfectionist. He would film many versions of scenes. He left a lot of extra film on the floor.

Margaret would collect these extra pieces. She stayed late to practice her editing skills. One day, Stahl was having trouble with a scene. After he left, Margaret tried her own way of cutting it. When Stahl saw her work, he was very impressed! He hired her right away as his assistant. She edited films for him like The Gay Deceiver (1926) and Lovers? (1927).

Stahl taught Margaret a lot about editing. He explained why he made certain editing choices. Margaret said he taught her "the value of a scene." She learned how to feel if a scene was working or not.

In 1924, Louis B. Mayer's studio joined with other studios. This created the famous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Stahl later left MGM, but Margaret decided to stay. She said MGM felt like home. She also said that Irving Thalberg, who was in charge of production at MGM, was "the greatest man who was ever in pictures." Thalberg liked Margaret's editing skills so much that he asked her if she wanted to direct movies. But she was not interested.

Thalberg was the first person known to call film cutters "film editors." Margaret Booth was one of the first to be called this. Her first official editing credit was for the 1929 film The Bridge of San Luis Rey.

At MGM, Margaret edited many films starring the famous actress Greta Garbo, including Camille (1936). She also edited The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) and Romeo and Juliet (1936). She even received an Academy Award nomination for her editing work on Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). This was her only nomination for a competitive Oscar.

Leading the Way: Supervising Editor at MGM

In 1939, Margaret Booth was given a very important job. She became the supervising film editor for MGM. She said, "They liked me because I was fast." She was also very tough.

As the supervising editor, she didn't actually cut films herself. Instead, she hired other editors. She also watched the daily film footage, called dailies, for every movie. She oversaw the editing of many classic films. These included The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Ben-Hur (1959).

Director Sidney Lumet called Margaret "a remarkable person." He said she was smart, worked tirelessly, and loved movies. He told a story about her visiting the set of his film The Hill (1965). She asked for two minutes to be cut from the film. Lumet disagreed. After several screenings, Margaret finally gave in. She felt sad that new studio bosses didn't seem to care about filmmaking as much. Margaret stayed in her important role until she retired in 1968.

A newspaper called the Village Voice said that Margaret was "the final authority of every picture the studio made for 30 years."

New Adventures: Editing for Ray Stark

After leaving MGM, Margaret Booth was hired by Ray Stark. She became the supervising editor for his company, Rastar Productions. She oversaw the editing for many films. These included The Way We Were (1973), The Sunshine Boys (1975), and Annie (1982). Her last credit was as an executive producer for The Slugger's Wife (1985). She was 87 years old then!

Margaret received many awards for her amazing career.

• In 1977, she received an Academy Honorary Award. This award was for her "62 years of exceptionally distinguished service" to the movie industry.
• In 1983, she won the Women in Film Crystal Award. This award honors women who have helped expand the role of women in entertainment.
• In 1990, she received the American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award.
• In 1998, when she turned 100, a big party was held to celebrate her seven decades in film.

End of an Era: Death and Legacy

Margaret Booth passed away on October 28, 2002, at the age of 104. She died after having a stroke. She is buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery in California.

The British newspaper The Guardian wrote about her. They said that all filmmakers had to get her approval for the final editing of their movies. They described her editing style as "invisible cutting." This meant making the changes from one shot to another so smooth that the audience barely noticed them. The goal was to keep the story flowing easily.

Select Filmography

See also

• List of centenarians (actors, filmmakers and entertainers)