71 years ago in a Galaxy far far away, baby George Lucas was born. Well, it was Modesto, California, but you get the picture. In a strange twist of events, George Lucas was born ten days after the day he should have been born, which of course is May 4th, also known as Star Wars Day, also known as May The Fourth Be With You. I”m not saying May 4th was his due date (although that would have been a fun coincidence), I”m just saying how dope would it be if George Lucas was born ten days earlier on the day that decades later would come to be known as Star Wars Day?
Anyway, when you hear the name George Lucas you immediately think of intergalactic adventures and an epic battle of good vs. evil, but he”s actually so much more than his famous creation. Well, not SO much more, but still, a little more.
Here are five non-Star Wars related things you might not have known about George Lucas:
•He originally wanted to be a race car driver, but changed his mind after an accident at eighteen-years-old that almost cost him his life.
•He went to college at University of Southern California (USC), where he met Stephen Spielberg.
•In college he got really into making 16mm no-story, non-character “visual tone poems” with titles such as “Look at Life”, “Herbie”, “1:42.08”, “Emperor”, “Anyone Lived in a Pretty (how) Town”, “Film Maker”, and “6-18-67”.
•In 1967, Lucas tried joining the United States Air Force but was turned down because of his poor driving record (he had too many speeding tickets). He was later drafted for military service in Vietnam, but was excused because his tests showed that he had diabetes.
•Lucas plans to give half of his fortune to charity as part of The Giving Pledge led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to encourage America”s richest to help the less fortunate.
So, that”s him, the man behind the magic. Seems like a pretty fantastic guy, if you ask me, the kind of guy I”d like to hang out with, maybe get dinner, maybe a couple of drinks…wait, do I have a crush on him?
Happy birthday, George Lucas, and May the Fourteenth be with you.