George Lucas

Background

George Walton Lucas Jr. was born in Modesto, California. He is the son of Dorothy Lucas and George Lucas Sr. and is of German, Swiss-German, English, and Scottish descent. Lucas was interested in science-fiction and comics growing up and race car driving. However, that passion was quickly dissolved after an accident. After high school, Lucas went to Modesto Junior College, where he studied anthropology, sociology, and literature, alongside other subjects. Around the same time, he began playing around with film cameras. Lucas transferred to the University of Southern California (U.S.C.) School of Cinematic Arts, once he had realized his fondness for cinematography.

In 1967, Lucas graduated with a bachelor of fine arts and re-enrolled as a U.S.C. graduate student in film production later that year. The first film he directed was “Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB,” which won first prize at the 1967 —1968 National Student film festival. Lucas was granted a student scholarship by Warner Bros. to observe and work on the making of a film. The film he chose was “Finian’s Rainbow” (1968), which Francis Ford Coppola was directing. In 1969, Lucas was one of the camera operators on the classic Rolling Stones concert film “Gimme Shelter.” In 1969, Lucas founded his company Lucasfilm, where he successfully directed his first major piece, “American Graffiti” (1973). That same year, he married film editor Marcia Lou Griffin, and they later divorced in 1983.

In 1977, after many years of working on his biggest project yet, “Star Wars” was released. It quickly evolved as one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Following the debut of the stunning movie, Lucas worked on spinoffs and other media for the franchise. He also worked on many other movies, including “Indiana Jones,” “Twice Upon A Time,” and “Ewoks: Caravan of Courage,” to name a few. In 1999, “Episode I – The Phantom Menace” was released, the prequel to “Star Wars.” During the early 2000s, Lucas worked on further “Star Wars” prequels. From 2012, he went into semi-retirement, working on smaller projects rather than blockbusters, and got married to Mellody Hobson in 2013. Lucas has four children. Lucas worked as a creative consultant on the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy in 2015. This mega-director has had a very fruitful career and has always had his finger on the pulse.