Lucas was born in Modesto, California. During the 1960s, Lucas studied cinema in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California, one of the earliest universities to have a school devoted to film. There he made a number of short films, including an early version of THX1138, later to become his first full-length feature film. After graduating, he co-founded the studio American Zoetrope with Francis Ford Coppola, hoping to create a liberating environment for filmmakers to direct in outside the perceived oppressive control of the Hollywood studio system. American Zoetrope never really succeeded, but from the financial success of his films American Graffiti and Star Wars, Lucas was able to set up his own studio, Lucasfilm, in Marin County in his native northern California. Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light and Magic, respectively the sound and visual effects subdivisions of Lucasfilm, have became among the most respected firms in their fields. Lucasfilm Games, later renamed to LucasArts, is highly regarded in the computer games industry.
On October 3, 1994 Lucas started to write the three Star Wars prequels and on that November 1 he left the day-to-day operations of his filmmaking business and started a sabbatical to finish the prequels.
Most notable movies include:
- THX1138 (1970) (director, writer)
- American Graffiti (1973) (director, writer)
- Star Wars (1977) (director, writer)
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (executive producer, co-writer)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) (executive producer)
- Return of the Jedi (1983) (executive producer, co-writer)
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) (executive producer)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) (executive producer)
- The Phantom Menace (1999) (director, writer, executive producer
- Attack of the Clones (2002) (director, co-writer, executive producer)
