George Lucas Birthday May 14

George Walton Lucas, Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an Academy Award-nominated American film producer, screenwriter, director and founder/chairman of Lucasfilm Ltd. He is best known for being the creator of the epic science fiction franchise Star Wars and joint creator of the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones. Today, Lucas is one of the American film industry’s most financially successful independent directors/producers, with an estimated net worth of $3.0 billion as of 2009.

Trivia:

Three adopted children: Amanda Lucas (aka Amanda Lucas, b. 1981), Katie Lucas (b. 1988), and Jett Lucas(b. 1993).

Graduated from USC’s school of cinema (1962)

Shortly before graduating high school, he was involved in a high speed car accident that left him hospitalized and near death.

Lucas provided all the funding for Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).

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.

Sits on USC School of Cinema-Television’s Board of Councilors.

In the 2001 edition of the Forbes’ “400 Richest People In America”, it is reported that Lucas’ fortune is $3 billion.

He is a diabetic.

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.

He was so impressed with relatively unknown stage actor James Wheaton that he cast him over studio objections in the voiceover role of “OMM” in THX 1138 (1971). The studio wanted Orson Welles to play the role.

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.

Sold Lucasfilm’s Computer Graphics Division to Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs, and it later became Pixar Animation Studio.

His name backwards is Egroeg Sacul. This name is also used in the Disney theme park ride Star Tours (1987).

Rewrote the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) to tighten it up due to the fact that the scene would have been too busy. It originally ended with the mine-car chase that was later added to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).

Conceived Indiana Jones while on vacation with his friend Steven Spielberg in Hawaii. Lucas decided to produce while Spielberg would direct.

Was engaged to longtime girlfriend Linda Ronstadt.

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.

Refuses to put “critics quotes” on his movie posters. Something that infuriates many critic societies.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. “World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985″. Pages 605-610. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.

He based the character of Han Solo on his friend Francis Ford Coppola.

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.

Became so stressed during the filming of the original Star Wars (1977) that he checked himself into a hospital, where he was diagnosed with hyper-tension.

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.

Disowned Howard the Duck (1986) after the film’s release.

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.

Despite a reputation as Hollywood blockbusters, all of the Star Wars films are actually independent films, with the exception of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The only way he could get the required funding to make the film was to apply for studio funding. With the success of the film and its merchandising, Lucas no longer needed to go to the studios. For Episodes V and VI, he took out bank loans, which he paid off on each films’ earnings. For the Prequel Trilogy, he no longer needed bank loans, having made enough money to fund each film out of his own personal savings.

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.

Won the American Film Institute’s Life Time Achievement Award.

His favorite stage of filmmaking is editing the film together.

His nickname in high school was Luke. This later became the name of the hero of his original Star Wars trilogy, Luke Skywalker.

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.

Used the 1927 U.F.A. film “Metropolis” as guidelines for some of his Star Wars characters – the “robotic man” for “C3PO” and the “robots creator” as “Anakin Skywalker.” Both the creator and Anakin lost a hand. The “robotic man’s creator” loses his hand while building the robot.

Became rich almost overnight due to him keeping the rights to Star Wars and not selling them outright to Twentieth Century Fox.

In the 2005 edition of Forbes’ “400 Richest People in America” list, his net worth is estimated at $3.5 billion. He and good friend Steven Spielberg are the only filmmakers on the list.

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).

Had a dog named ‘Indiana’ which not only inspired the Indiana Jones character, but Chewbacca from Star Wars was also modelled around the way the dog looked.

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

Star Wars (1977), AKA as “Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope” is ranked #39 on the American Film Institute’s 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time.

Grand marshal, Tournament of Roses parade [2007]

He, his mentor Francis Ford Coppola, and friend Steven Spielberg presented Martin Scorsese with his first ever Oscar for Best Director for The Departed (2006).

Is a fan of “Doctor Who” (1963).

Skywalker Ranch, Lucas’ film production facility, covers an area of some 3,000 acres in Northern California’s Marin County hills. The precise address is: 5858 Lucas Valley Road, Nicasio, CA, 94946. The facility employs around 200 personnel, is home to a baseball field, a vineyard, 3 restaurants and a fire station, not to mention the array of hi-tech amenities. The fact that Skywalker Ranch is located off Lucas Valley Road is pure coincidence.

Graduated from Modesto’s Roosevelt Junior High school in 1958.

Rankings on Premiere’s annual Power 100 List – 2002: #14; 2003: #10; 2004: #16; 2005: #11.

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.

George Lucas has been in a relationship with Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments, LLC, since 2007.

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.

As a fan of “Family Guy” (1999), he occasionally gives the producers the clearance to do “Star Wars” gags on the show.

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).

During pre-production of Empire Strikes Back (1980) George created a phony working title – not for fan purposes, but to save money. Vendors and service providers, upon getting wind of the next Star Wars picture, were doubling their prices.

Lives in San Anselmo, California.

Filed under: Birthdays

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