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Mary Prange, a longtime assistant ed- itor and stalwart member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, died July 9 at the age of 73. Prange suffered from Alzhei- mer's disease and cancer. A native of Manhattan Beach, Cali- fornia, Prange joined what became her longtime studio, Paramount Pictures, as a secretary in the casting department. During her early years at the studio, she forged connections that would lead her to the cutting room. "She went from being a secretary to on-the-job training," said Prange's niece Suzette King. "People took her underneath their wings and she got into editing." Prange developed a rapport with pro- ducer-director Garry Marshall, whose hit ABC series "Laverne & Shirley" and "Mork & Mindy" were among the assis- tant editor's most notable early credits. "When I was young, I used to go to her house and we would watch outtakes from Robin Williams that were hilarious— rolls and rolls and rolls of it," King said. Music editor and longtime Paramount postproduction executive Paul Haggar helped Prange gain admittance into the Motion Picture Editors Guild. Prange relished her role as an assis- tant editor, eventually accumulating c r e d i t s o n t o p s e r i e s o f t h e 1 9 8 0 s , including NBC's "McClain's Law" and "The A-Team," as well as the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning miniseries "Sho- gun," starring Richard Chamberlain. "She stayed in her industry and loved it—completely," King said. I n t h e e a r l y 1 9 9 0 s, d u e to h e a l t h problems, P range decided to retire. A contributing factor was the shift in postproduction from film to digital edit- ing, but, King said, "if her health would not have declined, I have no doubt in my mind that she would have been able to transition." Prange threw herself into work for the Editors Guild, where she was a com- mittee member and served on the Board of Directors. The Guild selected her as a delegate to IATSE Conventions. "When she couldn't edit anymore, she just had to stay involved," said King. In the mid-2010s, Prange relocated to Hawaii, where she married a former high-school boyfriend, Ricky Young. She is survived by her husband, her sister Carol, her brother Shane, her cousin Jeb, her nephew Brady, and another niece, Heather. "Her job was the most important thing to her other than her family," King said. — Peter Tonguette Mary and I met while working on "Shōgun" in 1980, and remained friends for 40 years, all of which she filled with laughter and great fun. She had a tough childhood, found recovery from the family disease of addiction, forged an amazing, successful and accomplished life, survived a liver transplant and a severe reaction to the anti-rejection drugs, avoided a second transplant a dozen or more years later w h e n n e w e r t r e a t m e n t s f o r H e p - C worked (hallelujah!), lived her life well, extended a hand downward to pull others up - always, had an attitude of gratitude, a covey of grateful sponsees, a legion of friends, a mother she worshipped and with whom she spoke every week until Norma herself succumbed to Alzheimer's a few years back, a problematic sister she never totally gave up on, a little brother s h e l o v e d , a s t re e t - p re a c h e r f a t h e r whose affairs she ably dealt with when he passed, a stepfather she knew loved her mom. Mary was consistent, honest, kept her commitments, had a creative streak that led to the wildest photo -shops, funniest birthday and Christmas cards imaginable, made hilarious and creative 51 F A L L Q 3 I S S U E I N M E M O R I A M P H O T O : C O U R T E S Y M A U R E E N O ' C O N N E L L MARY PRANGE FEBRUARY 21, 1947–JULY 9, 2020 Mary Prange (right) with Maureen O'Connell at the 2011 MPEG Retirees Luncheon.