Profile of the Day: George Lucas

Happy birthday to George Lucas! Today the Star Wars creator turns 80.

Image: Nicolas Genin, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The iconic filmmaker was born George Walton Lucas, Jr. on May 14, 1944 in Modesto, California. He was the son of Dorothy Bomberger and George Walton Lucas,Sr. As a teen, he formed an interest in filmmaking and car-racing. He spent much of his years in high school racing cars until experiencing a near-fatal car crash at the age of 18. Although he left racing behind, Lucas would later bring his passion for motor racing and filmmaking together in the coming of age film, American Graffiti.

The mastermind behind one of Hollywood’s biggest franchises, Lucas has created some of the most popular and iconic films in history. In 2012, Disney purchased Lucas’s production company, Lucasfilm, for $4 billion. In the announcement, Lucas shared his plans for retirement and the desire to pass the Star Wars franchise to a new generation of filmmakers.

Explore George Lucas’s family tree on Geni and share how you’re related to the filmmaker.

View George Lucas’s Geni Profile