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George Walton Lucas, Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an Academy Award nominated American film director, producer, and screenwriter famous for his epic Star Wars saga and his/Spielberg's Indiana Jones films. He is one of the American film industry's most independent, financially successful directors and producers.

Biography

George Walton Lucas Jr. was born in Modesto, California to George Walton Lucas, Sr. (1913–1991) and Dorothy Ellinore Bomberger Lucas. His father, who was mainly of British and Swiss heritage, ran a stationery store and owned a small walnut orchard. His mother was a member of a prominent Modesto family (one of her cousins is the mother of former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and director of UNICEF Ann Veneman) and was mainly of German and Scots-Irish heritage.

Lucas graduated from Thomas Downey High School in 1962, where he had been an indifferent student at best and dreamed of becoming a professional race car driver. That early dream ended June 12, 1962, when he crashed his Bianchina. The car was broadsided while he tried to make a left turn into his driveway. The car rolled; the racing harness that he had installed snapped, and he was thrown from the car. Had the harness not snapped—and Lucas has said it shouldn't have—he would most likely have been crushed to death by the steering column when the car smashed into a walnut tree. (The force of the impact uprooted the tree).

During his recovery, Lucas reevaluated his life and decided to go to college. He enrolled at Modesto Junior College, where he earned an AA degree.

George Lucas then transferred to the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. USC was one of the earliest universities to have a school devoted to motion picture film. During the years at USC, George Lucas shared a dorm room with Randal Kleiser. New ideas regarding movie making inspired Randal Kleiser a veted and experimental interest in special effects; so that after directing acclaimed musical hit Grease, and an era iconic The Blue Lagoon, he also went on to pioneer motion picture morphing, and showed the Star Wars spirit of cinematic constructivism during a Red Riding Hood movie musical shot in 2003 featuring the first successful "on-demand" 3D virtual reality filming stage. George Lucas made many short films at USC; the first was Freiheit that included Randal Kleiser in the acting cast. Many George Lucas USC student projects had a technical and science fiction look. With them an early version of THX 1138 (the complete title was "Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB"), which won first prize at the 1967-68 National Student Film Festival and later became his first full-length feature film.

After graduating with a bachelor of fine arts in film in 1967, he tried joining the Air Force as an officer, but was turned down because of his numerous speeding tickets. He was later drafted by the Army, but tests showed he had diabetes, the disease that killed his paternal grandfather. Lucas was prescribed medication for the disease, but his symptoms are sufficiently mild that he does not require insulin and would not be considered diabetic under the disease's current classification.

In 1967, Lucas re-enrolled as a USC graduate student in film production and was awarded a scholarship by Warner Brothers to observe the making of Finian's Rainbow (1968) which was being directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Eventually he co-founded the studio American Zoetrope with Coppola—whom he met during the internship at Warner Brothers—hoping to create a liberating environment for filmmakers to direct outside the perceived oppressive control of the Hollywood studio system. From the financial success of his films American Graffiti (1973) and Star Wars (1977), Lucas was able to set up his own studio, Lucasfilm, in Marin County in his native Northern California. Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light and Magic, the sound and visual effects subdivisions of Lucasfilm, respectively, have become among the most respected firms in their fields. Lucasfilm Games, later renamed to LucasArts, was for many years highly regarded in the gaming industry.

Star Wars is considered by some to be the first "high concept" film, although others feel the first was Steven Spielberg's Jaws, released two years prior. Lucas and Spielberg had been good friends for some time and eventually worked together on several films, notably the first Indiana Jones vehicle, Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981.

On a return on investment basis, Star Wars proved to be one of the most successful films of all time. During the filming of Star Wars, Lucas waived his up front fee as director and negotiated to own the licensing rights—rights which the studio thought were nearly worthless. This decision earned him hundreds of millions of dollars as he was able to directly profit from all the licensed games, toys and collectibles created for the franchise. In 2006 Forbes Magazine estimated Lucas' personal wealth at US$3.5 billion. In 2005 Forbes.com estimated the lifetime revenue generated by the Star Wars franchise at nearly $20 billion.

On October 3 1994, Lucas started to write the three Star Wars prequels, and on November 1 that year, he left the day-to-day operations of his filmmaking business and started a sabbatical to finish the prequels.

The American Film Institute awarded Lucas its Life Achievement Award for 2005. He received the award on June 9, 2005.2005 AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to George Lucas on USA Network This was awarded shortly after the release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which he jokingly made reference to in his acceptance speech, stating that, since he views the entire Star Wars series as one movie, that he could be given the award now that he had finally "gone back and finished [the] movie."

On June 5 2005, Lucas was named 100th "Greatest American" by the Discovery Channel.

In 1969, Lucas married film editor Marcia Lou Griffin, who went on to win an Oscar for her work on the original (fourth) Star Wars film. They adopted a daughter, Amanda, in 1981, and divorced in 1983. Lucas has since adopted two more children: Katie, born in 1988, and Jett, born in 1993. All three of his children have appeared in the prequels. Lucas had also been in a long relationship with country singer Linda Ronstadt.

In 2005, Lucas gave $1 million USD to help build the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C. to commemorate American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.. [1]

Lucas was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Directing and Writing for American Graffiti, and Best Directing and Writing for Star Wars. He also received the Academy's Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1991.

On September 19, 2006, USC announced that George Lucas had donated $175 million to his alma mater to expand the film school. It is the largest single donation to USCStuart Silverstein, George Lucas Donates USC's Largest Single Gift, The Los Angeles Times, September 19, 2006..

On September 20, George Lucas was announced the Grand Marshal for the 2007 Rose Parade.

He recently announced that he would produce a TV series about Star Wars which would take place between episode 3 and 4. According to rumours, the name of it will be "A Galaxy Far Away".

Filmography

Student at USC (1965 to 1968)

• Freiheit (1965)
• Look at Life (1965)
• Herbie (1966)
• 1:42:08 (1966)
• The Emperor (1967)
• Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138:4EB (1967)
• Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town (1967)
• 6-18-67 (1967)
• Filmaker (1968)

Pre-Star Wars (1971 to 1973)

• THX 1138 (1971) (director, co-writer)
• American Graffiti (1973) (director, co-writer)

The birth of Star Wars (1977 to 1983)

• Star Wars (1977) (director, writer, executive producer)
• The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) (story)
• More American Graffiti (1979) (executive producer)
• Kagemusha also known as The Shadow Warrior (1980) (Executive Producer of International Edition)
• The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (executive producer, co-writer, uncredited co-director)
• Body Heat (1981) (uncredited executive producer)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) (co-writer, executive producer, uncredited second unit director)
• Twice Upon a Time (1982) (executive producer)
• Return of the Jedi (1983) (executive producer, co-writer, uncredited co-d]

Post-Original Trilogy (1984 to 1994)

• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) (co-writer, executive producer)
• Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984) (executive producer, story)
• Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985) (executive producer, story)
• Mishima (1985) (executive producer)
• Howard the Duck (1986) (executive producer)
• Labyrinth (1986) (executive producer)
• Captain Eo (1986) (producer, screenplay)
• Powaqqatsi (1988) (executive producer)
• Willow (1988) (writer, executive producer)
• Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) (executive producer)
• The Land Before Time (1988) (executive producer)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) (co-writer, executive producer)
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992 - 1996) (story, executive producer)
• Radioland Murders (1994) (co-writer, executive producer)

The return of Star Wars (1999 to 2005)

• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) (director, writer, executive producer)
• Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) (director, co-writer, executive producer)
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) (director, writer, executive producer, actor)

Post-Star Wars (present)

• Red Tails (2008)
• Indiana Jones 4 (2008) (story, executive producer)

Cameos in films and TV

• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) (Cameo as "Tourist boarding plane")
• Hook (1991) (Cameo as "Man kissing on bridge")
• Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) (Cameo as "Disappointed Man")
• Men In Black (1997) (Uncredited cameo as Himself)
• "Just Shoot Me" (2003 episode "It's Raining Babies" (Cameo as Himself)
• The O.C. (2005 episode "The O.Sea") (Cameo as Himself)
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) (Cameo as "Baron Papanoida")
• The Colbert Report (2006) (Cameo as Green Screen Finalist George L.)

Trivia

• High school nickname was "Luke," hence the name of Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars."
• A noted fan of Mel Brooks, he gave permission to Mel Brooks to film Spaceballs after reading a copy of the script Brooks had given him.
• Made a cameo appearance in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith at the insistence of his daughter. He appeared in the opera scene, near Palpatine. This is his only appearance in any of the Star Wars films.
• In 1976, Lucas published a novelization of A New Hope, which was initially (like the film) titled just Star Wars. Although Lucas was credited as author of the book, it was later revealed that the book was actually ghost written by Alan Dean Foster, who would also write Splinter of the Mind's Eye, the first original Star Wars novel and, in many respects, the first Star Wars sequel.
• Stood as a financial guarantor on his friend Willard Huyck's film adaptation of the Howard the Duck comics and was credited as 'Executive Producer' for the service despite having no involvement in the film's production and never visiting the set. The film is often referred to as a Lucas 'bomb' despite his lack of tangible involvement, although he has made attempts to distance himself from the film.
• Although he has written and directed several movies, he stopped doing so with his own projects, claiming that he does not really enjoy either paticularly. He is mostly credited as "Executive Producer" because he wants to be focused entirely on the technical details.
• Sold Lucasfilm's Computer Graphics Division (by then named Pixar) to Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs. It eventually became Pixar Animation Studios.
• Made as an action figure in 2002 with the name "Jorg Sacul". In 2006, a toy based on his appearance in Revenge of the Sith was created, as well as a mail-away special figure of George Lucas in Stormtrooper disguise. Jorg obviously reflects his first name. Sacul is Lucas backwards.
• Speaking of backwords names, his is used in the Star Wars ride Star Tours at Disneyland and at Disney-MGM Studios as Egroeg Sacul a planet offered to intergalactic tourists while waiting for the real ride to start.
• He is parodied in the blooper real "What's my Motivation?" within the video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter having (his offscreen voice) to give advice to a confused Jango Fett.
• The producers of Superman offered Lucas the chance to direct but declined saying he didn't think he could do a good job with the material.
• Lucas is known for protecting his franchise to which the invocation and/or appropriation of his creations by third parties has led to court battles - especially against hip-hop musicians Luther Campbell (for appropriating Luke Skywalker (spelled Skyywalker) for his stage name and record company) and Dr. Dre (for sampling the THX theme).
• In 1969, Lucas was hired to shoot the Rolling Stones in concert at the Altamont Music Festival.
• On October 11, 2006, Lucas appeared on The Colbert Report as "George L.", presumably a finalist to Colbert's "Green Screen Challenge". He ended the episode by fighting, and defeating, Colbert in a mock lightsaber battle.
• SONY built a special digital video camera just for him, just for "Episode II."

References

Quotes

• "If somebody gave me a hundred feet of film, I made a movie out of it."
• "My first 6 years in the business were hopeless. A lot of times I'd say, 'Why am I doing this?'"
• "High school for me was pretty boring. I didn't do so well in terms of my grades."

External links

• Star Wars: George Lucas
• George Lucas Biography
• The George Lucas Educational Foundation
• Academy of Achievement Profile http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/luc0pro-1
• Academy of Achievement Biography http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/luc0bio-1
• Academy of Achievement Interview http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/luc0int-1
• Academy of Achievement Photo Gallery http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/luc0gal-1
• Letters to George, write George Lucas, and read other fan mail to him
• Resource and Entertainment by FilmMakers Magazine
• Inside Skywalker Ranch
• A Tribute for 28 Years of Star Wars, Sign the Letter to George Lucas.
• The online bibliography section of "DROIDMAKER: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution"
• George Lucas at Yahoo! Movies
• Lucas bio page at Lucasfilm.com
• Academy of Achievement Interview
• George Lucas aiming to release the Star Wars movies in 3D Bookmark at Movie Web
• Digital 3D - In a Theatre Near You? by Michael Karagosian, and published at MKPE
• George Lucas is honored for his global vision by the World Affairs Council of Northern California, May 22, 2006 (video)

Articles

• WIRED: "Life after Darth", an in-depth look at George Lucas' artistic influences and future aspirations
• Achievement: George Lucas, interview including video and full biography
• In-Three's Dimensionalized TM 3D Movies at ShoWest
• Edutopia: "Life On The Screen" The filmmaker argues that students must learn a new language of image and sound in order to succeed.

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