Born in St. Louis, MO; nicknamed "Mother Cutter". She was such a brilliant editor that she was actually promoted to a studio executive at Universal. Among her many accomplishments, she is the one credited with introducing two young directors to each other while at Universal; their names: George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. She started editing sound in television ("Sky King," 1951, sound effects) and at RKO (WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS, 1956), then began editing both sound and picture, although not on the same films. Other notable (non-nominated) editing credits include: (sound) THE SAVAGE EYE (1960), EL CID (1961) and TARGETS (1968); (picture) STUDS LONIGAN (1960), MEDIUM COOL (1969), WHAT'S UP, DOC? (1972), PAPER MOON (1973), THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS, DAISY MILLER and MEMORY OF US (all 1974). She was also an uncredited 2nd unit director on JAWS. The Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) named their Award for student sound editing in her honor.  Nominated for Film Editing 1973: AMERICAN GRAFFITI (w. Marcia Lucas)  Film Editing 1975: JAWS 2 nominations, 1 Award