Happy birthday George Lucas!
Happy 78th birthday to the creator of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, George Lucas!
Born in 1944 in Modesto, California, Lucas would eventually attend the University of Southern California as a film major. He first found success with his 1973 film American Graffiti, which led to 20th Century Fox giving him the chance to write and direct his dream project, a Flash Gordon-inspired space opera called Star Wars.
The phenomenal success of the film not only changed how Hollywood operated, it made Lucas one of the most influential figures in the industry, and pop culture as a whole. He would go on to create Indiana Jones, spawning another blockbuster film franchise, as well as change how movies are made by forming Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound under the Lucasfilm production banner.
After making the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy and the fourth Indiana Jones film, Lucas largely stepped away from direct involvement in film and TV projects. In 2012, he sold Lucasfilm to Disney and shifted his focus to the creation of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles.
This 2011 interview with Christopher Nolan, Lucas discussed his career and the impact of Star Wars.
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