---
name: "Barbara McLean"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/barbara-mclean"
fi1m_id: "barbara-mclean"
imdb_id: "nm0572492"
tmdb_id: 10603
wikidata_id: "Q452236"
roles: ["Editor"]
born: "16 November 1903"
died: "28 March 1996"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 9
average_fi1m_score: 69
average_over: 9
updated: "2026-09-20T02:35:55.331296+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Barbara McLean

## Identity

Barbara McLean

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/barbara-mclean
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** barbara-mclean
- **IMDb ID:** nm0572492
- **TMDB ID:** 10603
- **Wikidata ID:** Q452236
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McLean, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q452236, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0572492/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10603

Editor. Born 16 November 1903 in Palisades Park, New Jersey, USA. Died 28 March 1996.

## Details

- **Work:** Editor
- **Born:** 16 November 1903, Palisades Park, New Jersey, USA
- **Died:** 28 March 1996
- **Active:** 1934–1953
- **Also known as:** Barbara "Bobby" McLean
- **Frequently works with:** [Darryl F. Zanuck](https://film.one/person/darryl-f-zanuck.md), [Henry King](https://film.one/person/henry-king.md), [Lamar Trotti](https://film.one/person/lamar-trotti.md), [Alice Faye](https://film.one/person/alice-faye.md), [Cedric Hardwicke](https://film.one/person/cedric-hardwicke.md), [Don Ameche](https://film.one/person/don-ameche.md), [Gary Merrill](https://film.one/person/gary-merrill.md), [Tyrone Power](https://film.one/person/tyrone-power.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 6 nominated)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 70 (4), 1940s 69 (3), 1950s 69 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 74 to 75 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 6 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 9, History 4, Romance 3, Action 1, Music 1, War 1
- **Screen time:** 19 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $56m across 6 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McLean, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q452236, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0572492/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10603

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*All About Eve*](https://film.one/film/all-about-eve.md) (90)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Barbara McLean, also credited as Bobby McLean, was an American film editor. She began working as an assistant editor in the late 1920s and received her first editing credit on Gallant Lady (1933). She spent her career at 20th Century Fox, where she became the studio's most prominent editor and head of its editing department from 1949 until her retirement in 1969.

McLean edited over sixty films, including All About Eve (1950), Niagara (1953), The Robe (1953), Viva Zapata! (1952), Nightmare Alley (1947), The Gunfighter (1950), Twelve O'Clock High (1949), The Song of Bernadette (1943) and Jesse James (1939). She won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for Wilson (1944) and received six further nominations for the award. She collaborated extensively with director Henry King on twenty-nine films. McLean received the American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award in 1988.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com, womenfilmeditors.princeton.edu.*

## On Fi1m (9)

- *The Robe* (1953), Fi1m 48, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/the-robe.md)
- *All About Eve* (1950), Fi1m 90, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/all-about-eve.md)
- *Twelve O'Clock High* (1949), Fi1m 83, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/twelve-oclock-high.md)
- *Wilson* (1944), Fi1m 61, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/wilson.md)
- *The Song of Bernadette* (1943), Fi1m 63, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/the-song-of-bernadette.md)
- *Alexander's Ragtime Band* (1938), Fi1m 70, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/alexanders-ragtime-band.md)
- *In Old Chicago* (1938), Fi1m 64, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/in-old-chicago.md)
- *Les Misérables* (1935), Fi1m 74, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/les-miserables-1935.md)
- *The House of Rothschild* (1934), Fi1m 70, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/the-house-of-rothschild.md)

## Complete filmography (57)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *On the Threshold of Space* (1956), Associate Producer
- *Seven Cities of Gold* (1955), Producer
- *Untamed* (1955), Editor
- *The Egyptian* (1954), Editor
- *King of the Khyber Rifles* (1953), Editor
- *The Robe* (1953), Editor — Fi1m 48, [page](https://film.one/film/the-robe.md)
- *The Desert Rats* (1953), Editor
- *Niagara* (1953), Editor
- *The Snows of Kilimanjaro* (1952), Editor
- *Lure of the Wilderness* (1952), Editor
- *Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie* (1952), Editor
- *Viva Zapata!* (1952), Editor
- *People Will Talk* (1951), Editor
- *David and Bathsheba* (1951), Editor
- *Follow the Sun* (1951), Editor
- *I'd Climb the Highest Mountain* (1951), Editor
- *All About Eve* (1950), Editor — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/all-about-eve.md)
- *No Way Out* (1950), Editor
- *The Gunfighter* (1950), Editor
- *Twelve O'Clock High* (1949), Editor — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/twelve-oclock-high.md)
- *Prince of Foxes* (1949), Editor
- *When My Baby Smiles at Me* (1948), Editor
- *Deep Waters* (1948), Editor
- *Captain from Castile* (1947), Editor
- *Nightmare Alley* (1947), Editor
- *Margie* (1946), Editor
- *The Dolly Sisters* (1945), Editor
- *A Bell for Adano* (1945), Editor
- *Winged Victory* (1944), Editor
- *Wilson* (1944), Editor — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/wilson.md)
- *The Song of Bernadette* (1943), Editor — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/the-song-of-bernadette.md)
- *The Black Swan* (1942), Editor
- *Rings on Her Fingers* (1942), Editor
- *A Yank in the R.A.F.* (1941), Editor
- *Tobacco Road* (1941), Editor
- *Chad Hanna* (1940), Editor
- *Down Argentine Way* (1940), Editor
- *Maryland* (1940), Editor
- *Little Old New York* (1940), Editor
- *The Rains Came* (1939), Editor
- *Stanley and Livingstone* (1939), Editor
- *Jesse James* (1939), Editor
- *Suez* (1938), Editor
- *Alexander's Ragtime Band* (1938), Editor — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/alexanders-ragtime-band.md)
- *In Old Chicago* (1938), Editor — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/in-old-chicago.md)
- *Seventh Heaven* (1937), Editor
- *Lloyd's of London* (1936), Editor
- *Sing, Baby, Sing* (1936), Editor
- *Professional Soldier* (1935), Editor
- *Metropolitan* (1935), Editor
- *Les Misérables* (1935), Editor — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/les-miserables-1935.md)
- *Clive of India* (1935), Editor
- *The Mighty Barnum* (1934), Editor
- *The Affairs of Cellini* (1934), Editor
- *The House of Rothschild* (1934), Editor — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/the-house-of-rothschild.md)
- *Gallant Lady* (1933), Editor
- *Coquette* (1929), Editor

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 6 nominated

- 1951: Best Film Editing (nominated), for *All About Eve*
- 1945: Best Film Editing (won), for *Wilson*
- 1944: Best Film Editing (nominated), for *The Song of Bernadette*
- 1940: Best Film Editing (nominated), for *The Rains Came*
- 1939: Best Film Editing (nominated), for *Alexander's Ragtime Band*
- 1937: Best Film Editing (nominated), for *Lloyd's of London*
- 1936: Best Film Editing (nominated), for *Les Misérables*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/barbara-mclean