George Lucas

Lucas married film editor Marcia Lou Griffin in 1969. Griffin edited several of his early projects and won an Academy Award for her editing on the original Star Wars film. The couple adopted a daughter, Amanda, in 1981 before divorcing in 1983. Following their separation, Lucas adopted two more children as a single parent: daughter Katie in 1988 and son Jett in 1993. All three of his eldest children later made cameo appearances in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

In 2006, Lucas began dating Mellody Hobson, the president of Ariel Investments and chairwoman of DreamWorks Animation. The pair married in June 2013 at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California, and welcomed a daughter, Everest, born via surrogate later that year. Beyond his domestic life, Lucas has described his spiritual outlook as "Buddhist Methodist," drawing philosophical concepts from both traditions into his cinematic mythologies.

Lucas has committed substantial resources to charitable causes, notably signing The Giving Pledge to donate the majority of his wealth to education. In 1991, he established the George Lucas Educational Foundation to promote educational innovation through its Edutopia platform. Alongside Hobson, he contributed major gifts to institutions including the University of Southern California and the Obama Foundation, and spearheaded the development of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles.

Raised in Modesto, California, Lucas initially harbored ambitions of becoming a racecar driver until a severe automobile collision in June 1962 altered his career path. After studying anthropology and sociology at Modesto Junior College, he transferred to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. While at USC, he joined a close cohort of student filmmakers and directed the award-winning short film Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB.

During an internship at Warner Bros. on the set of Finian's Rainbow, Lucas formed a crucial friendship with director Francis Ford Coppola. In 1969, the two filmmakers co-founded American Zoetrope in Northern California, aiming to provide an independent alternative to the major Hollywood studio system. Under the American Zoetrope banner, Lucas expanded his student short into his feature directorial debut, THX 1138, released in 1971.

Although THX 1138 struggled at the box office, Lucas founded his own production banner, Lucasfilm Ltd., and directed the 1973 period comedy American Graffiti. Drawing inspiration from his teenage years of cruising and hot-rod culture in Modesto, the low-budget production became a massive commercial hit. The film earned five Academy Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Screenplay for Lucas, providing him with the industry standing required to pursue his next ambitious concept.

Seeking to craft an original space fantasy in the spirit of vintage adventure serials, Lucas spent years writing the screenplay for Star Wars. After several studios passed on the project, 20th Century Fox agreed to finance the film. During contract negotiations, Lucas opted to keep his original directing fee relatively low in exchange for retaining licensing and merchandising rights as well as sequel arrangements, a decision that proved extraordinarily lucrative over subsequent decades.

To achieve the intricate visual effects required for the film, Lucas established Industrial Light & Magic in Van Nuys, California, in 1975. ILM developed innovative computer-assisted camera systems and pioneering miniature photography. Released in May 1977, Star Wars became a runaway global phenomenon, setting box-office records, earning six Academy Awards, and transforming modern blockbuster cinema.

Following the immense production strain of the first film, Lucas stepped away from directing to produce and write the story for the original trilogy sequels. He executive produced The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1983, entrusting directorial duties to Irvin Kershner and Richard Marquand respectively. During this era, Lucas also developed Skywalker Sound and founded the theater audio standard THX to ensure optimal sound presentation.

Concurrently with his science-fiction work, Lucas partnered with his longtime friend Steven Spielberg to create the Indiana Jones franchise. Lucas conceived the titular archaeologist as a tribute to classic matinee serial heroes and served as executive producer and story writer for the original trilogy, comprising Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Lucasfilm served as an incubator for diverse film and television ventures. Lucas executive produced projects including Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha, Jim Henson's Labyrinth, Ron Howard's fantasy adventure Willow, and the animated feature The Land Before Time. He also spearheaded the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which served as a testing ground for emerging digital editing and visual effects technologies.

In addition to film production, Lucas's computer research division developed groundbreaking digital imaging tools, including early digital non-linear editing systems. In 1986, Lucas sold Lucasfilm's Computer Graphics Division to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, which subsequently became Pixar Animation Studios.

Witnessing advances in computer-generated imagery during the early 1990s convinced Lucas that digital tools were mature enough to realize the backstory of Darth Vader. In 1997, he released digitally updated Special Editions of the original Star Wars trilogy before returning to directing with Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace in 1999. He went on to direct Episode II - Attack of the Clones in 2002 and Episode III - Revenge of the Sith in 2005.

Lucas continued to expand the franchise through animation, executive producing the long-running television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars alongside supervising director Dave Filoni. He also re-teamed with Spielberg for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008 and self-funded the World War II aviation drama Red Tails, released in 2012.

In October 2012, Lucas retired from large-scale blockbuster filmmaking and sold Lucasfilm to The Walt Disney Company for approximately $4.05 billion. Producer Kathleen Kennedy took over leadership of the company, and Lucas stepped into a creative consulting role during the initial development of the sequel trilogy.