31 Awe-Insipring Facts About George Lucas Every Fan Should Know

George Lucas – the man credited with changing the face of Hollywood forever, has been one of the biggest names for more than 4 decades now. He is super rich with his savvy business deals and his movie franchises are something extraordinary. Here are some facts about the famous filmmaker that we bet you didn’t know before:

1. Lucas is one of the most important and influential filmmaker with four Academy Awards nomination to his credit. He is one of the most financially successful filmmaker in American film industry with some of his films being among the 100 highest-grossing films in the box office,
2. Though he was passionate about camerawork and editing, he made his mark as a story writer with over 161 credits to his name. He has also produced 69 films and directed 19 films.
3. He was born George Walton Lucas Jr. on May 14, 1944,to Dorothy Ellinore Lucas and George Walton Lucas Sr., a stationary store owner. He was raised along with his three sisters, Wendy Lucas, Ann Lucas, and Kathleen Lucas on a Walnut ranch in Modesto, California.
4. Lucas attended Thomas Downey High School and later Modesto Junior College briefly before moving over to University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film in 1967.
5. Lucas grew up in the Methodist church and later became interested in comparative mythologies with distinct interest in Eastern religions. Though he considers himself a ‘Buddhist Methodist,’ he identifies himself with both current and childhood belief.
6. Growing up he wanted to become a race car driver and was bored with studies attributing to poor grades for most of his schooling years to the extent of even having trouble with spelling up through college.
7. On June 12, 1962, days before his high school graduation, while racing on the underground circuit, he was involved in a car accident that left him hospitalized and near death. As his car crashed into a tree his seatbelt snapped, ejecting him and thereby saving his life.
8. At the National Student Film Festival in 1968, his short film ‘Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB,’ won the first prize and was awarded a scholarship by Warner Brothers as an observer in making of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1968 film ‘Finian’s Rainbow.’
9. As an apprentice at the Warner Brothers, he was very much interested to see the Animation Department. According to him, the day he arrived, was the very day the Animation Department was closed down.
10. In 1979, he founded animation studio ‘Pixar’ as part of the ‘Lucasfilm Ltd,’ computer division, known as the Graphics Group. He later sold it to Steve Jobs for US$5 million on February 3, 1986.
11. He is known for science fiction and fantasy themed film based on man’s relationship to machines and technology. The number THX-1138, the name of his first movie appearing in many films.
12. On February 22, 1969, he married film editor ‘Marcia Lou Griffin,’ whom he met at the University of Southern California. They got separated in June 1983, for reportedly $50 million settlement citing his workaholic and emotional blockage as the reason.
13. His efforts to join the United States Armed Force were unsuccessful. He was turned down by the United States Air Force, because of numerous speeding tickets and by the Army, due to his family history of diabetes.
14. Lucas initially founded the studio ‘American Zoetrope,’ along with Francis Ford Coppola, before creating his own company ‘Lucasfilm Ltd.,’ in 1971.He sold his production company to Disney for four billion dollars in 2012 and became second largest shareholder with 2%.
15. In 1971, Warner Brothers-Seven Arts signed Lucas to direct his first feature length version of his prizewinning student film ‘THX 1138.’ His second film ‘American Graffiti,’ in 1973, became one of the top grossing films of the decade.
16. The film American Graffiti was shot almost exclusively at night in 29 days, received critical acclaim and its box office success made Lucas an instant millionaire. It was the only Best Picture Oscar nominee that year not to win an Academy Awards.
17. In 1977, Lucas wrote and directed the science fiction film ‘Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope,’ and won six competitive awards at the 50th Academy Award. The film dubbed as ‘Movie of the Year,’ by Times magazine, is the outcome of his fascination as a child for adventure serial ‘Flash Gordon.’
18. Lucas later produced and co-wrote the next two Star War sequels, ‘The Empire Strikes Back,’ and ‘Return of the Jedi.’ He also collaborated with Steven Spielberg as executive producer and as story writer on all four of the ‘Indiana Jones’ films.
19. In 1983, along with Tomlinson Holman, Lucas founded ‘THX Ltd,’ which developed high fidelity audio and visual reproduction standards for movie theatres.
20. On June 9, 2005, he was awarded ‘Lifetime Achievement Award,’ by the American Film Institute, for his contribution in enriching American culture through motion pictures and television.
21. In 1991, he founded ‘The George Lucas Educational Foundation,’ and published award winning website ‘Edutopia,’ to celebrate and encourage innovation in K-12 schools. He advocates for a free wireless broadband educational network.
22. In 1999, he returned to direction in over two decades with release of Star War prequel ‘Episode I –The Phantom Menace,’ and went on to write and direct the final two episodes ‘Star War: Episode II-Attack of the Clones,’ and ‘Star Wars: Episode III –Revenge of the Sith.’
23. Following the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney, he announced his semi-retirement from involving with large blockbuster film, re-focusing his career on smaller and independently budgeted films.
24. On June 22, 2013, he married Mellody Hobson, the president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments, at Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch. They have one daughter together, Everest Hobson Lucas, who was born via surrogacy. He had earlier adopted three children, Amanda, Katie and Jett Lucas.
25. Lucas is one of the forty wealthy families and individuals who are signatories to give half of their fortunes to charity as part of an effort called ‘The Giving Pledge,’ led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in August 2010.
26. He and his wife Mellody Hobson founded the ‘Lucas Museum of Narrative Art,’ to be located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California. It will hold paintings, photography, illustration, cinematic art and digital art from Lucas personal collections, and a Star War exhibit.
27. Among his philanthropy works includes US$ 1 million aid to build the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C. in 2005. He also donated around $180 million to expand the film school at the University of Southern California.
28. He supported Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign and attended ‘we are one’ President Pre-Inaugural Concert on January 18 2009. As on April 2016, he was one of the major donor to Obama Foundation, which is overseeing the construction of the Barrack Obama Presidential Center.
29. In September 2008, the Discovery Channel named him as one of the ‘100 Greatest Americans,’ and he was also recognized by the ‘Science Fiction Hall of Fame,’ in 2006, as its only film, television and media contributor, after Spielberg.
30. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts by then President Barack Obama, in a ceremony at the White House in July 2013, recognizing his contribution to American culture.
31. George Lucas Net Worth: $5.1 Billion