George Walton Lucas Jr.[1] (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created theStar Wars andIndiana Jones franchises and foundedLucasfilm,LucasArts,Industrial Light & Magic andTHX. He served as chairman of Lucasfilm before selling it tothe Walt Disney Company in 2012.[2] Nominated for fourAcademy Awards, he is considered to be one of the most significant figures of the 20th-centuryNew Hollywood movement, and a pioneer of the modernblockbuster. Despite this, he has remained an independent filmmaker for most of his career.[3]
In 1997, Lucas re-released theoriginalStar Wars trilogy as part of aSpecial Edition featuring several modifications; home media versions with further changes were released in 2004 and 2011. He returned to directing with aStar Wars prequel trilogy comprisingThe Phantom Menace (1999),Attack of the Clones (2002) andRevenge of the Sith (2005). He last collaborated on the CGI-animatedmovie and television series of the same name,Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–2014, 2020), the war filmRed Tails (2012) and the jukebox musical fantasy CGI-animated filmStrange Magic (2015). Lucas is also known for his collaboration with composerJohn Williams, who was recommended to him by Spielberg, and with whom he has worked for all the films in both of these franchises. He also produced and wrote a variety of films and television series through Lucasfilm between the 1970s and the 2010s.
Lucas isone of history's most financially successful filmmakers. He directed or wrote the story for ten of the 100 highest-grossing movies at the North American box office, adjusted for ticket-price inflation.[5] Through his companiesIndustrial Light and Magic andSkywalker Sound, Lucas was involved in the production of, and financially benefited from, almost every big-budget film released in the U.S. from the late 1980s until selling to Disney in 2012. In addition to his career as a filmmaker, Lucas has founded and supported multiple philanthropic organizations and campaigns dedicated to education and the arts, including theGeorge Lucas Educational Foundation, which has been noted as a key supporter in the creation of the federalE-Rate program to provide broadband funding to schools and libraries, and theLucas Museum of Narrative Art, a forthcoming art museum in Los Angeles developed with his wife,Mellody Hobson.
Early life and education
Lucas was born and raised inModesto, California,[6] the son of Dorothy Ellinore Lucas (née Bomberger) and George Walton Lucas Sr., and is of German, Swiss German, English, Scottish, and distant Dutch and French descent.[7] His family attendedDisneyland during its opening week in July 1955, and Lucas would remain enthusiastic about the park.[8] He was interested in comics and science fiction, including television programs such as theFlash Gordon serials.[9] Long before Lucas began making films, he yearned to be a racecar driver, and he spent most of his high school years racing on the underground circuit at fairgrounds and hanging out at garages. On June 12, 1962, a few days before his high school graduation, Lucas was driving his souped-upAutobianchi Bianchina when another driver broadsided him,[a] flipping his car several times before it crashed into a tree; Lucas's seatbelt had snapped, ejecting him and thereby saving his life.[10] However, his lungs were bruised from severe hemorrhaging and he required emergency medical treatment.[10] This incident caused him to lose interest in racing as a career, but also inspired him to pursue his other interests.[11][12]
Lucas's father owned a stationery store, and had wanted George to work for him when he turned 18. Lucas had been planning to go to art school, but his father said he wouldn't pay for it. Lucas declared upon leaving home that he would be a millionaire by the age of 30.[13][b] He attendedModesto Junior College, where he studiedanthropology, sociology, and literature, amongst other subjects.[11] He also began shooting with an 8-m.m. camera, including filming car races.[11] At this time, Lucas became interested inCanyon Cinema: screenings ofunderground,avant-garde 16-m.m. film-makers likeJordan Belson,Stan Brakhage andBruce Conner.[15] Lucas and childhood friend John Plummer also saw classic European films of the time, includingJean-Luc Godard'sBreathless,François Truffaut'sJules et Jim andFederico Fellini's8½.[15] "That's when George really started exploring," Plummer said.[15] Through his interest inautocross racing, Lucas met renownedcinematographerHaskell Wexler, another race enthusiast.[11][15] Wexler, later to work with Lucas on several occasions, was impressed by Lucas's talent.[11] "George had a very good eye, and he thought visually," he recalled.[15]
A group of friends, which includedChris Lewis andDon Glut, started the Clean Cut Cinema Club. Lucas, Kleiser and Lewis then formed a short-lived production company called Sunrise Productions with offices on Sunset Boulevard. There they would make up stage names for themselves, Lucas calling himself Lucas Beaumont. Their only project would be the never completed short "Five, Four, Three", a self-referential and self-deprecating mockumentary about the making of a satirical teen beach movie called "Orgy Beach Party".[18]
Lucas was deeply influenced by the Filmic Expression course taught at the school by film-makerLester Novros which concentrated on the non-narrative elements of Film Form like color, light, movement, space and time. Another inspiration was the Serbian montagist (and dean of the U.S.C. Film Department)Slavko Vorkapich, a film theoretician who made stunningmontage sequences for Hollywood studio features atMGM,RKO, andParamount. Vorkapich taught the autonomous nature of the cinematic art form, emphasizing the kinetic energy inherent in motion pictures.
After graduating with a bachelor offine arts in film in 1967, he tried joining theUnited States Air Force as an officer, but he was immediately turned down because of his numerous speeding tickets. He was laterdrafted by the United States Army for military service inVietnam, but he was exempted from service after medical tests showed he haddiabetes, the disease that killed his paternal grandfather.[19]
In 1967, Lucas reenrolled as a U.S.C. graduate student in film production.[20] He began working under movie and logo designerSaul Bass and film editorVerna Fields for theUnited States Information Agency, where he met his future wifeMarcia Griffin.[21] Working as a teaching instructor for a class ofU.S. Navy students who were being taught documentary cinematography, Lucas directed the short filmElectronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, which won first prize at the 1967–68 National Student film festival. Lucas was awarded a student scholarship byWarner Bros. to observe and work on the making of a film of his choosing. The film he chose after finding the animation department closed down wasFinian's Rainbow (1968) which was being directed byFrancis Ford Coppola, who was revered among film school students of the time as a cinema graduate who had "made it" in Hollywood.[22] In 1969, Lucas was one of the camera operators on the classicRolling Stones concert filmGimme Shelter.
In 1969, Lucas moved back to theSan Francisco Bay Area and co-founded the studioAmerican Zoetrope with Coppola, hoping to create a liberating environment for film-makers to direct outside the perceived oppressive control of the Hollywoodstudio system.[23] Coppola thought Lucas'sElectronic Labyrinth could be adapted into his first full-length feature film,[24] which was produced by American Zoetrope asTHX 1138, but was not a success. Lucas then created his own company,Lucasfilm, Ltd., and directed the successfulAmerican Graffiti (1973).
Lucas then set his sights on adaptingFlash Gordon, an adventure serial from his childhood that he fondly remembered. When he was unable to obtain the rights, he set out to write an original space adventure that would eventually becomeStar Wars.[25] Despite his success with his previous film, all but one studio turnedStar Wars down. It was only becauseAlan Ladd Jr. at20th Century Fox likedAmerican Graffiti that he forced through a production and distribution deal for the film, which ended up restoring Fox to financial stability after a number of flops.[26]Star Wars was significantly influenced bysamurai films ofAkira Kurosawa,Spaghetti Westerns, as well as classicsword and sorcery fantasy stories.
Star Wars quickly became thehighest-grossing film of all time, displaced five years later by Spielberg'sE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. After the success ofAmerican Graffiti and prior to the beginning of filming onStar Wars, Lucas was encouraged to renegotiate for a higher fee for writing and directingStar Wars than the US$150,000 agreed.[11] He declined to do so, instead negotiating for advantage in some of the as-yet-unspecified parts of his contract with Fox, in particular, ownership of licensing and merchandising rights (fornovelizations, clothing, toys, etc.) and contractual arrangements for sequels.[11][27] Lucasfilm has earned hundreds of millions of dollars from licensed games, toys, and collectibles created for the franchise.[11]
The originalStar Wars film went through a tumultuous production, and during editing, Lucas suffered chest pains initially feared to be a heart attack, but actually a fit of hypertension and exhaustion. The effort that Lucas exerted duringpost-production for the film, and its subsequent sequels, caused strains on his relationship with his wife Marcia Lucas, and was a contributing factor to their divorce at the end of the trilogy.[25] The success of the firstStar Wars film also resulted in more attention focused on Lucas, both positive and negative, attracting wealth and fame, but also many people who wanted Lucas's financial backing or just to threaten him.[28]
Following the release of the firstStar Wars film, Lucas worked extensively as a writer and producer, including on the manyStar Wars spinoffs made for film, television and other media. Lucas acted as executive producer for the next twoStar Wars films, commissioningIrvin Kershner to directThe Empire Strikes Back andRichard Marquand to directReturn of the Jedi, while receiving a story credit on the former and sharing a screenwriting credit withLawrence Kasdan on the latter.[29] Lucas also gave away his screenwriting credit out of great respect forLeigh Brackett forThe Empire Strikes Back after her death from cancer.[30] He also acted as story writer and executive producer on the first fourIndiana Jones films, which his colleague and good friend Steven Spielberg directed.
In some cases, George Lucas served as an actual executive producer without being credited, such as in the filmsBody Heat (1981),Latino (1985),Return to Oz (1985), documentaryPowaqqatsi (1988, credited only as "Presentation"), alsoStar Wars television projects:Holiday Special (1978),Droids (1985–1986),Ewoks (1985–1986) andClone Wars (2003–2005).
The animation studioPixar was founded in 1979 as the Graphics Group, one third of the Computer Division ofLucasfilm.[32] Pixar's early computer graphics research resulted in a digital filmThe Adventures of André & Wally B. and groundbreaking effects in films such asStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan[33] andYoung Sherlock Holmes,[33] and the group was purchased in 1986 bySteve Jobs shortly after he leftApple Computer. Jobs paid Lucas $5 million and put $5 million as capital into the company. The sale reflected Lucas's desire to stop the cash flow losses from his seven-year research projects associated with new entertainment technology tools, as well as his company's new focus on creating entertainment rather than tools. As of June 1983, Lucas was worth $60 million,[34] but he met cash-flow difficulties following his divorce that year, concurrent with the sudden dropoff in revenues fromStar Wars licenses following the theatrical run ofReturn of the Jedi. At this point, Lucas had no desire to return toStar Wars, and had unofficially canceled thesequel trilogy.[35]
Also in 1983, Lucas andTomlinson Holman founded the audio companyTHX.[37] The company was formerly owned by Lucasfilm and contains equipment for stereo, digital, and theatrical sound for films, and music.Skywalker Sound andIndustrial Light & Magic, are the sound and visual effects subdivisions of Lucasfilm, while Lucasfilm Games, later renamedLucasArts, produces products for the gaming industry.
1993–2012: Return to directing,Star Wars, andIndiana Jones
Having lost much of his fortune in a divorce settlement in 1987, Lucas was hesitant on making additionalStar Wars features.[35] However,the prequels, which were still only a series of ideas partially pulled from his original drafts of "The Star Wars", continued to tantalize him with technical possibilities that would make it worthwhile to revisit his older material. WhenStar Wars became popular once again, in the wake ofDark Horse's comic book line andTimothy Zahn'strilogy of spin-off novels, Lucas realized that there was still a large audience. His children were older, and with the explosion ofCGI technology he began to consider directing once again.[38]
By 1993, it was announced, inVariety among other sources, that Lucas would be making the prequels. He began penning more to the story, indicating that the series would be a tragic one, examining Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side. Lucas also began to change the status of the prequels relative to the originals; at first, they were supposed to be a "filling-in" of history tangential to the originals, but now he saw that they could form the beginning of one long story that started with Anakin's childhood and ended with his death. This was the final step towards turning the film series into a "Saga".[39] In 1994, Lucas began work on the screenplay of the first prequel, tentatively titledEpisode I: The Beginning.
In 1997, to celebrate the 20th anniversary ofStar Wars, Lucas restored the original trilogy and made numerous modifications using newly available digital technology to bring them closer to his original vision. The films werere-released in theaters as the "Special Editions".[40][41][42] The trilogy received further modifications and restorations for DVD releases in 2004, Blu-ray releases in 2011 and 4K releases released in 2019. Additionally, Lucas released a director's cut ofTHX 1138 in 2004, with the filmre-cut and containing a number of CGI additions.
George Lucas, Berlin 2005 (Portrait byOliver Mark)
The firstStar Wars prequel was finished and released in 1999 asEpisode I – The Phantom Menace, which would be the first film Lucas had directed in over two decades. Following the release of the first prequel, Lucas announced that he would also be directing the next two, and began working onEpisode II.[43] The first draft ofEpisode II was completed just weeks before principal photography, and Lucas hiredJonathan Hales, a writer fromThe Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, to polish it.[44] It was completed and released in 2002 asAttack of the Clones. The final prequel,Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, began production in 2002[45] and was released in 2005. Numerous older fans and critics at the time considered the prequels more mixed compared to the original trilogy,[46][47][48] though they were box office successes and popular with younger fans.[49][50][51][52] In 2004, Lucas reflected that his transition from independent to corporate film-maker mirrored the story ofStar Wars characterDarth Vader in some ways, but concluded he was glad to be able to make his films the way he wanted to.[53]
Lucas at the 2009 Venice Film Festival
Lucas collaborated withJeff Nathanson as a writer of the 2008 filmIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, directed by Steven Spielberg. Similar to theStar Wars prequels, the reception was mixed with fans and critics alike. From 2008 to 2014, Lucas also served as the creator and executive producer for a secondStar Wars animated series on Cartoon Network,Star Wars: The Clone Wars which premiered with afeature film of the same name before airing its first episode. The supervising director for this animated series wasDave Filoni, who was chosen by Lucas and closely collaborated with him on its development.[54][55][56][57][58] This series bridged the events betweenAttack of the Clones andRevenge of the Sith, and featured the lastStar Wars stories in which Lucas was involved in a major way.
In 2012, Lucas self-funded and served as executive producer forRed Tails, a war film based on the exploits of theTuskegee Airmen duringWorld War II. He also took over directing of reshoots while directorAnthony Hemingway worked on other projects.
2012–present: Semi-retirement
I'm moving away from the business ... From the company, from all this kind of stuff.
In January 2012, Lucas announced his retirement from producing largeblockbuster films, and instead re-focusing his career on smaller, independently budgeted features.[59][60][61]
In June 2012, it was announced that producerKathleen Kennedy, a long-term collaborator with Steven Spielberg and a producer of theIndiana Jones films, had been appointed as co-chair of Lucasfilm Ltd.[62][63] It was reported that Kennedy would work alongside Lucas, who would remain chief executive and serve as co-chairman for at least one year, after which she would succeed him as the company's sole leader.[62][63] With the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney, Lucas is currently Disney's second-largest single shareholder, after the estate ofSteve Jobs.[64]
Lucas worked as a creative consultant on theStar Wars sequel trilogy's first film,The Force Awakens.[65] Lucas's involvement included attending early story meetings; according to Lucas, "I mostly say, 'You can't do this. You can do that.' You know, 'The cars don't have wheels. They fly with antigravity.' There's a million little pieces ... I know all that stuff."[66] Lucas's son Jett toldThe Guardian that his father was "very torn" about having sold the rights to the franchise, despite having hand-picked Abrams to direct, and that his father was "there to guide" but that "he wants to let it go and become its new generation."[67] Among the materials turned over to the production team were story treatments Lucas developed when he considered creating EpisodesVII–IX himself; in January 2015, Lucas stated that Disney had discarded his story ideas.[68][69]
Lucas with Secretary of StateJohn Kerry in Washington, D.C., on December 5, 2015
The Force Awakens, directed byJ. J. Abrams, was released on December 18, 2015. Kathleen Kennedy produced the film and its sequels.[70][71] The new sequel trilogy was jointly produced by Lucasfilm andthe Walt Disney Company, which had acquired Lucasfilm in 2012.[72] During an interview with talk show host and journalistCharlie Rose that aired on December 24, 2015, Lucas likened his decision to sell Lucasfilm to Disney to a divorce and outlined the creative differences between him and the producers ofThe Force Awakens. Lucas went on to say that he needed to support the company and its employees who were going to suffer financially.[73] Lucas described the previous sixStar Wars films as his "children" and defended his vision for them, while criticizingThe Force Awakens for having a "retro feel", saying: "I worked very hard to make them completely different, with different planets, with different spaceships – you know, to make it new." Lucas also drew some criticism and subsequently apologized for his remark likening Disney to "white slavers".[74][75]
In 2015, Lucas wrote the CGI filmStrange Magic, his first musical. The film was produced atSkywalker Ranch.Gary Rydstrom directed the movie.[76] At the same time the sequel trilogy was announced, afifth installment of theIndiana Jones series also entered pre-development phase withHarrison Ford and Steven Spielberg set to return. Lucas originally did not specify whether the selling of Lucasfilm would affect his involvement with the film. In October 2016, Lucas announced his decision to not be involved in the story of the film but was nevertheless credited as an executive producer.[77][78] In 2016,Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first film of aStar Wars anthology series was released. It told the story of the rebels who stole the plans for theDeath Star featured in the originalStar Wars film, and it was reported that Lucas liked it more thanThe Force Awakens.[79]The Last Jedi, the second film in the sequel trilogy, was released in 2017; Lucas described the film as "beautifully made".[80]
Lucas founded a film production companyLucasfilm in 1971,[86] and incorporated as Lucasfilm Ltd. on September 12, 1977.[87] In the mid-1970s, the company's offices were located on theUniversal Studios Lot.[88] Lucas founded theStar Wars Corporation, Inc. as a subsidiary to control various legal and financial aspects ofStar Wars (1977),[89] including copyright, and sequel and merchandising rights. It also produced the 1978Star Wars Holiday Special for20th Century Fox Television.[90] That year, Lucas hired Los Angeles-based real-estate specialist Charles Weber to manage the company, telling him that he could keep the job as long as he made money.[91] Lucas wanted the focus of the company to be making independent films, but the company gradually became enlarged from five employees to almost 100, increasing in middle management and running up costs. In 1980, after Weber asked Lucas for fifty million dollars to invest in other companies and suggested that they sellSkywalker Ranch to do so, Lucas fired Weber and had to let half of the Los Angeles staff go.[91] By the same year, the corporate subsidiary had been discontinued and its business was absorbed into the various divisions of Lucasfilm.
By June 2013, Lucas was considering establishing a museum, the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum, to be built onCrissy Field near theGolden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which would display his collection of illustrations and pop art, with an estimated value of more than $1 billion. Lucas offered to pay the estimated $300 million cost of constructing the museum, and would endow it with $400 million when it opened, eventually adding an additional $400 million to its endowment.[95] After being unable to reach an agreement withThe Presidio Trust, Lucas turned to Chicago.[96] A potential lakefront site onMuseum Campus in Chicago was proposed in May 2014.[97] By June 2014, Chicago had been selected, pending approval of theChicago Plan Commission,[98] which was granted.[99] The museum project was renamed theLucas Museum of Narrative Art. On June 24, 2016, Lucas announced that he was abandoning his plans to locate the museum in Chicago, due to a lawsuit by a local preservation group, Friends of the Parks, and would instead build the museum in California.[100] On January 17, 2017, Lucas announced that an eleven-acre campus with green space and the museum's five-story 300,000 square foot building will be constructed over what was a parking lot inExposition Park, Los Angeles, California.[101] It is due to be completed in 2026.[102]
In July 2025, Lucas made his first ever appearance atSan Diego Comic-Con, where he previewed the museum. At a panel, he showcased multiple pieces, including drawings from the originalIron Man comic, Indiana Jones concept art,Frida Kahlo paintings, andPeanuts sketches, that will be part of the museum's opening exhibits.[103]
Collaboration
Lucas was also heavily involved and invested in the scoring process for theoriginalStar Wars soundtrack, which was composed byJohn Williams, on the recommendation of his friend and colleague Steven Spielberg. Whilst initially wanting to use tracks and film music in a similar manner to2001: A Space Odyssey, which served as the inspiration for the film, Williams advised against this and instead proposed a system of recurring themes (orleitmotifs) to enhance the story in the style of classical composersGustav Holst,William Walton, andIgor Stravinsky; works that Lucas had used as "temp tracks" for Williams to gain inspiration from.[104][105] The film, and subsequent sequels and prequels, make use of the Main Title Theme, the Force Theme (less commonly referred to as Obi Wan Kenobi's Theme), the Rebel Alliance Theme and Princess Leia's Theme (all introduced in this film) repeatedly. Subsequent films also added to the catalog of themes for different characters, factions, and locations.
The score was released to critical acclaim and won Williams his thirdAcademy Award for Best Original Score. The score was listed by theAmerican Film Institute in 2005 as thegreatest film score of all time. The professional relationship formed by Lucas and Williams extended through to Williams working on all of Lucas's blockbuster franchise movies: the remaining two films of theStar Wars original trilogy; all three films ofprequel trilogy developed over fifteen years later; and the five films of the Indiana Jones franchise, in which Williams reunited with his long-time collaborator Spielberg. In his collaborations with Lucas, Williams received six of his fifty-two Academy Award nominations (Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi,Raiders of the Lost Ark,Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, andIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade). After Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney, Williams stayed on board with the franchise, and continued to score the remaining three films of the "Skywalker Saga" (The Force Awakens,The Last Jedi, andThe Rise of Skywalker, for which he received a further three Oscar nominations), after which he announced his "retirement" from the series.[106]
Lucas was in attendance for a ceremony honoring Williams as the 44th recipient of theAFI Life Achievement Award, the first composer to receive the honor, and gave a speech in praise of their relationship and his work.[107] In interviews, and most famously at the40th Anniversary Star Wars Celebration convention, Lucas has repeatedly reaffirmed the importance of Williams to the Star Wars saga, affectionately referring to him as the "secret sauce" of his movies.[108]
Philanthropy
Lucas is the wealthiest film celebrity in the world. His personal net worth is estimated to be between $7.5–9.4 billion,[109][110] making him one of therichest people in the entertainment industry. Lucas has pledged to give half of his fortune to charity as part of an effort calledThe Giving Pledge led byBill Gates andWarren Buffett to persuade America's richest individuals to donate their financial wealth to charities.[111][112]
George Lucas Educational Foundation
In 1991, The George Lucas Educational Foundation was founded as a nonprofit operating foundation to celebrate and encourage innovation in schools. The foundation's content is available under the brandEdutopia, in an award-winning web site, social media and via documentary films. Lucas, through his foundation, was one of the leading proponents of theE-Rate program in theuniversal service fund,[113] which was enacted as part of theTelecommunications Act of 1996. On June 24, 2008, Lucas testified before theUnited States House of Representatives subcommittee onTelecommunications and the Internet as the head of his Foundation to advocate for a free wireless broadband educational network.[114]
Proceeds from the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney
In 2012, Lucas sold Lucasfilm to the Walt Disney Company for a reported sum of $4.05 billion.[72] It was widely reported at the time that Lucas intended to give the majority of the proceeds from the sale to charity.[115][116] A spokesperson for Lucasfilm said: "George Lucas has expressed his intention, in the event the deal closes, to donate the majority of the proceeds to his philanthropic endeavors."[116] Lucas also spoke on the matter: "For 41 years, the majority of my time and money has been put into the company. As I start a new chapter in my life, it is gratifying that I have the opportunity to devote more time and resources to philanthropy."[116]
On September 19, 2006, the University of Southern California announced that Lucas had donated $175–180 million to his alma mater to expand the film school. It is the largest single donation to U.S.C. and the largest gift to a film school anywhere.[118] Previous donations led to the already-existing George Lucas Instructional Building and Marcia Lucas Post-Production building.[119][120]
In 2013, Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson donated $25 million to the Chicago-basednot-for-profit After School Matters, of which Hobson is the chair.[96]
On April 15, 2016, it was reported that Lucas had donated between $501,000 and $1 million through the Lucas Family Foundation (now the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation) to theObama Foundation, which is charged with overseeing the construction of theBarack Obama Presidential Center on Chicago'sSouth Side.[121]
In 2021, Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson made a donation to NYU through the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation to establish the Martin Scorsese Institute of Global Cinematic Arts.[122]
Personal life
Lucas at theTime 100 2006 gala
In 1969, Lucas married film editorMarcia Lou Griffin,[123] who went on to win anAcademy Award for her editing work on the originalStar Wars film. They adopted a daughter,Amanda Lucas, in 1981,[124] and divorced in 1983.[123] Lucas subsequently adopted two more children as a single parent: daughterKatie Lucas, born in 1988, and son Jett Lucas, born in 1993.[124] His three eldest children all appeared in the threeStar Wars prequels, as did Lucas himself. Following his divorce, Lucas was in a relationship with singerLinda Ronstadt in the 1980s.[125][126]
Lucas was born and raised in aMethodist family.[11] The religious and mythical themes inStar Wars were inspired by Lucas's interest in the writings of mythologistJoseph Campbell,[133] and he would eventually come to identify strongly with theEastern religious philosophies he studied and incorporated into his films, which were a major inspiration for "the Force". Lucas has come to state that his religion is "Buddhist Methodist". He resides inMarin County.[134][135]
Lucas is a major collector of the American illustrator and painterNorman Rockwell. A collection of 57 Rockwell paintings and drawings owned by Lucas and fellow Rockwell collector and film director Steven Spielberg were displayed at theSmithsonian American Art Museum from July 2, 2010, to January 2, 2011, in an exhibition titledTelling Stories.[136]
The American Film Institute awarded Lucas its Life Achievement Award on June 9, 2005.[140] This was shortly after the release ofStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, about which he joked stating that, since he views the entireStar Wars series as one film, he could actually receive the award now that he had finally "gone back and finished the movie".
Lucas was nominated for four Academy Awards:Best Directing andWriting forAmerican Graffiti andStar Wars. He received the academy'sIrving G. Thalberg Award in 1991. He appeared at the 79th Academy Awards ceremony in 2007 with Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola to present the Best Director award to their friendMartin Scorsese. During the speech, Spielberg and Coppola talked about the joy of winning an Oscar, making fun of Lucas, who has not won a competitive Oscar.
^After inducting 36 fantasy and science fiction writers and editors from 1996 to 2004, theScience Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame dropped "fantasy" and made non-literary contributors eligible.[151] Filmmaker Steven Spielberg was theinaugural "Film, Television and Media" inductee in 2005; Lucas the second in 2006. Previously Lucas had received a special award at the 1977 World Science Fiction Convention (forStar Wars) and annual professional achievement awards voted by fantasy fans in 1981 and 1982.[152]
^W., Rinzler, J. (2010). "The Road to Oz".The Making of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back: The Definitive Story (Digital). Del Rey Books. p. n390.OCLC657407687.Archived from the original on May 10, 2024. RetrievedOctober 6, 2022.I don't think Leigh Brackett would've gotten a story credit. I said that to George and he said, you know, from his heart he felt she should get a co-writing credit on it, so he gave that to her.-Howard Kazanjian "I didn't like the first script, but I gave Leigh credit because I liked her a lot," Lucas says. "She was sick at the time she wrote it and she really tried her best.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Lucas, George (August 11, 2014)."George Lucas & Mellody Hobson"(PDF).The Giving Pledge. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on January 31, 2015. RetrievedJanuary 31, 2015.My pledge is to the process; as long as I have the resources at my disposal, I will seek to raise the bar for future generations of students of all ages. I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education.
^Art, The Lucas Museum of Narrative (July 4, 2023)."George Lucas".The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. RetrievedJuly 5, 2023.
^Germain, David (May 18, 2008).""Indy" survives Cannes critics".The Denver Post via AP.Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. RetrievedSeptember 26, 2010.
^""Presenting the 2006 Hall of Fame Inductees"". Archived fromthe original on April 26, 2006. RetrievedAugust 19, 2016.. Press release March 15, 2006. Science Fiction Museum (sfhomeworld.org). Archived April 26, 2006. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
Steve Baker,Ricky Blitt, Will Carlough, Tobias Carlson, Jacob Fleisher, Patrik Forsberg, Will Graham,James Gunn, Claes Kjellstrom, Jack Kukoda,Bob Odenkirk, Bill O'Malley, Matthew Alec Portenoy,Greg Pritikin, Rocky Russo,Olle Sarri, Elizabeth Wright Shapiro,Jeremy Sosenko, Jonathan van Tulleken, and Jonas Wittenmark (2013)
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