Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Margaret Booth papers
214
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Abstract: The collection consists primarily of scripts from Booth's work in 1935-1936, and during the 1970s and 1980s. Also, there is
correspondence related to Booth's Honorary Academy Award.
Collector:
Booth, Margaret
Dates: 1935-1988
Dates: 1972-1984
Collection number: 214
Collection Size:
1.7 linear ft. of papers
Repository:
Margaret Herrick Library. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Available by appointment only.
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Margaret Herrick Library. Researchers are responsible for obtaining all
necessary rights, licenses, or permissions from the appropriate companies or individuals before quoting from or publishing
materials obtained from the library.
Margaret Booth papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Gift of Margaret Booth, 1991
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The Margaret Booth papers span the years 1935–1988 (bulk from 1972–1984) and encompass 1.7 linear feet. The collection consists
primarily of scripts from Booth's work in 1935-1936, and during the 1970s and 1980s. There is correspondence related to Booth's
Honorary Academy Award, as well as the actual statuette. The collection does not include personal correspondence, or materials
from Booth's work during the silent period or her early years at MGM.
Margaret Booth (1898–2002) was born in Los Angeles and graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1915. When her brother,
Elmer, an actor for director D. W. Griffith, was killed in an automobile accident, Margaret was offered a job at Griffith's
studio cutting negative. In 1919, the Griffith studio moved to New York and Booth went to work for Louis B. Mayer, where she
began to learn how to edit film. In 1924, Mayer's company merged with Metro and Goldwyn and Booth became an assistant film
editor and then a full-fledged editor. Over the next eleven years, Booth worked on numerous MGM films, notably ROMEO AND JULIET
(1936). Booth's only Academy Award nomination was for MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935). In 1936, Booth was made supervising film
editor at MGM, a position she held until her retirement in 1969. She was soon talked out of retirement by producer Ray Stark
who hired her as supervising editor for his company, Rastar Productions. Booth supervised the editing work for Stark on THE
WAY WE WERE (1973), FUNNY LADY (1975), MURDER BY DEATH (1976), THE GOODBYE GIRL (1977), CALIFORNIA SUITE (1978) and ANNIE
(1982). Booth received an Honorary Academy Award in 1978 for her "contribution to the art of film editing in the motion picture
industry." She received her last credit in 1982 for CHAPTER TWO.
1. Production files; 2. Subject files
Booth, Margaret
Editors