George Lucas was raised on a walnut ranch in Modesto, California. His father was a stationery store owner and he had three siblings. During his late teens he went to Downey High School and was very much interested in drag car racing. He planned to become a professional racecar driver. However a terrible car accident just after his high school graduation ended that dream permanently. The accident changed his views on life. He decided to attend Modesto Junior College before enrolling in the University of Southern California film school. As a film student he made several short films including THX-1138: 4EB (Electronic Labyinth) which won first prize at the 1967-68 National Student Film Festival. In 1967 he was awarded a scholarship by Warner Brothers to observe the making of Finian's Rainbow which was being directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Lucas and Coppola became good friends and formed a company called American Zoetrope in 1969. The company's first project was Lucas' full-length version of THX 1138. In 1971, Coppola went into production for The Godfather, and Lucas formed his own company, Lucasfilm Ltd. In 1973 he wrote and directed the semi-autobiographical American Graffiti which won the Golden Globe and garnered five Academy Award nominations. This gave him the clout he needed for his next daring venture. From 1973 to 1974 he began writing the screenplay for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. He was inspired to make this movie from Flash Gordon and the Planet of the Apes films. In 1975 he established ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) to produce the visual effects needed for the movie. Another company called Sprocket Systems was established to edit and mix Star Wars and later becomes known as Skywalker Sound. His movie was turned down by several studios until Twentieth Century Fox gave him a chance. Lucas agreed to forgo his directing salary in exchange for 40% of the film's box-office take and all merchandising rights. The movie went on to break all box office records and earned seven Academy Awards. It redefined the term "blockbuster". The rest is history. Lucas made the other Star Wars films and along with 'Steven Spielberg' created the Indiana Jones series which made box office records of their own. From 1980 to 1985 Lucas was busy with the construction of Skywalker Ranch, built to accommodate the creative, technical, and administrative needs of Lucasfilm. Lucas also revloutionized movie theaters with the THX System which was created to maintain the highest quality standards in motion picture viewing. He went on to make several more movies that have created major breakthroughs in film making. He is chairman of the board of The George Lucas Educational Foundation. In 1992 George Lucas was honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his lifetime achievement.


Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999): $400,000,000
Body Heat (1981): $250,000 + 5% of profits
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): $2,500,000 + net profits
Star Wars (1977): $200,000 + 40% of the net profits
American Graffiti (1973): $50,000 + 15% of gross
THX 1138 (1971): $15,000
The Rain People (1969): $3,000
Finian's Rainbow (1968): $3,000

Three adopted children: Amanda Lucas (aka Amanda Lucas, b. 1981), Katie Lucas (b. 1988), and Jett Lucas(b. 1993). Shortly before graduating high school, he was involved in a high speed car accident that left him hospitalized and near death For 2nd consecutive year, ranked No. 4 on Entertainment Weekly's annual list of "101 Most Powerful People in Entertainment." Ranked just ahead of Steven Spielberg and just behind the power couple that runs Time Warner Turner media empire. In the 2001 edition of the Forbes' "400 Richest People In America", it is reported that Lucas' fortune is $3 billion. He has created the image of always being on the cutting edge of technology. However, when he writes, he does it in longhand in a loose leaf binder rather than on a word processor. His script for Star Wars (1977) was turned down by every major Hollywood studio, the reason being that no one would want to see it. In a last ditch attempt, Lucas approached 20th Century Fox who decided to go ahead with the script even though they were convinced it would flop. Star Wars ended up becoming the highest grossing movie ever released at that time. It still ranks as one of the highest grossing movies ever made to this day. His name backwards is Egroeg Sacul. This name is also used in the Disney theme park ride Star Tours (1987). Conceived Indiana Jones while on vacation with his friend Steven Spielberg in Hawaii. Lucas decided to produce while Spielberg would direct. With THX 1138 (1971) and Star Wars (1977), Lucas re-invented the way sound was used in films. Using it in both a linear and abstract way, to tell the story, he pushed sound design to the forefront of the filmmaking process. Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 605-610. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988. He originally wanted his friend Steven Spielberg to direct Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), but his dispute with the Director's Guild barred him from doing so. He settled for director Richard Marquand instead. Said that Alec Guinness was very helpful to him during the filming of the original Star Wars (1977) even to the point of getting the other actors to work more seriously. When he began his apprenticeship at Warner Brothers, what he wanted to see most was the Animation Department. He claims that the day he arrived on the lot was the very day the Animation Department was closed down. He made what was at the time an unusual deal for the film, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Paramount financed the film's entire $20 million budget. In exchange, Lucas would own over 40% of the film and collect almost half of the profits after the studio a grossed a certain amount. It turned out to be a very lucrative deal for Lucas. Paramount executive Michael Eisner said that he felt the script for the film was the best he had ever read. His favorite stage of filmmaking is editing the film together. He originally wanted to do a film adaptation of Flash Gordon, but he could not obtain the rights, so he created Star Wars instead, which was in a similar vein to Flash Gordon. Became rich almost overnight due to him keeping the rights to Star Wars and not selling them outright to Twentieth Century Fox. Plans to reissue all of the Star Wars movies in 3-D versions using the Dimensionalization process by ILM. The process was first used in Chicken Little (2005). He received a medal from US president George Bush for outstanding achievement in improvements in technology in movies made by his special effects company ILM Grand marshal, Tournament of Roses parade [2007] Is a fan of "Doctor Who" (1963). Graduated from Modesto's Roosevelt Junior High school in 1958. Quit the DGA after some disputes over the opening credits in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). The movie had no opening credits and the DGA fined Lucas with $250.000, which he paid, and eventually quit. Lucas supported Barack Obama for President in 2008. With girlfriend, Mellody Hobson, he attended the "We Are One" Presidential Pre-Inaugural Concert on 18 January 2009. George Lucas's close friend John Landis was originally slated to direct Howard the Duck (1986) but after reading the script turned down the opportunity due to the police car crashes in the finale. He felt this was too similar to that of his previous film The Blues Brothers (1980). Lives in San Anselmo, California.