George Lucas Biography

George Lucas is the creator of the phenomenally successful Star Wars saga. The epic film adventures rank among the Top Ten box office hits of all time. In addition to writing the stories, Lucas directed Star Wars and served as the executive producer on The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Lucas was born in Modesto, Calif., where he attended Modesto Junior College before enrolling in the University of Southern California film school. As a student at USC, Lucas made several short films including THX-1138 which took first prize at the 1967-68 National Student Film Festival. In 1967, Warner Bros. awarded him a scholarship to observe the filming of Finian's Rainbow, directed by Francis Coppola. The following year, Lucas worked as Coppola's assistant on The Rain People and made a short film titled Filmmaker about the directing of the movie.

Lucas and Coppola shared a common vision. They dreamed of starting an independent film company where a community of writers, producers and directors could share ideas. In 1969, the two filmmakers moved back to Northern California where Lucas and Coppola founded American Zoetrope. The company's first project was Lucas’ full-length version of THX—ll38. In 1971, Coppola went into production on The Godfather and Lucas formed his own company, Lucasfilm Ltd.

In 1973, Lucas co-wrote and directed American Graffiti. The film was extremely successful and won the Golden Globe, the New York Film Critics and National Society of Film Critics awards and received five Academy Award nominations.

Four years later, Lucas wrote and directed Star Wars -- a film that broke all box office records and won seven Academy Awards. The film not only brought audiences back to the theater but also opened new frontiers for technicians. Lucas established Industrial Light & Magic and Sprocket Systems, the predecessor to Skywalker Sound, which brought new dimensions to sound design as they created voices for aliens, creatures and droids.

Lucas went on to write the stories for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi for which he was also executive producer. In 1980, he was executive producer and co-writer of Raiders of the Lost Ark, directed by Steven Spielberg, which won five Academy Awards. He was also the co-executive producer and creator of the story for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, released in 1984.

In the mid-1980s, Lucas concentrated on completing the building of Skywalker Ranch and developing the emerging business enterprises of Lucasfilm. In 1986 Lucas served as executive producer of Disney1and's 3-D musical space adventure, Captain EO. Directed by Coppola and starring Michael Jackson, Captain EO is shown in a theater uniquely designed for the 17-minute spectacular. Lucas and Industrial Light & Magic together with Disney designed the theater as part of the show to produce a visual, aural and environmental experience unique in the 3-D medium, combining technology with creativity to produce a new realm of entertainment. Lucas was also the creator of Star Tours, the original entertainment simulator and the most popular attraction at Disneyland.

In 1988, Lucas was the executive producer of Willow, based on his story and directed by Ron Howard, and Tucker: The Man and His Dream, directed by Coppola. Each film garnered three Academy Award nominations.

In 1989, Lucas served as executive producer and co-story writer for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, earned an Oscar for Best Sound and became the number one world-wide box office hit of 1989.

Lucas’ dedication to quality film production and his commitment to research and development resulted in an expansion of his company and the creation of Lucas Digital Ltd., comprised of Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound; LucasArts Entertainment Company, a leading producer of interactive and multimedia entertainment products; and Lucasfilm Ltd. which includes the THX Group, Lucasfilm Licensing and George Lucas’ film and television production activities. Additionally, Lucas is chairman of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a public charity committed to improving education by creating new ways to integrate interactive multimedia technologies with teaching and learning.

Lucas served as both story author and executive producer of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television series on ABC in 1992 and 1993. The series won nine Emmy Awards, the 1993 Banff Award for Best Continuing Series, an Angel Award for Quality Programming and a 1993 Golden Globe nomination for Best Dramatic Series.