Born in Modesto California (May 14, 1944), George Walton Lucas Jr. had very little interest in movies. The closest to an interest in storytelling was listening to radio serials, watching adventure serials on television, and reading novels such as Treasure Island and Tom Sawyer. His passion was in cars, and as a teen he would cruise around the streets of Modesto. "When I was fifteen, cars kicked in. I started hanging out at a garage, doodling with cars and working on engines… once I was sixteen, I got my license and I could really drive around, out on the streets, and I kind of got lost in cruising from that point on- cars were all consuming to me" (Lucas p.12)
He was an average student, disappointing his parents as he found academics boring and preferred daydreaming his time in class. "I was never described as a bright student. I was always described as somebody who could be doing a lot better than I was doing, not working up to potential. I was so bored" (Lucas p.12). He'd spend his time with friends cruising at night and flirting with the ladies. The cruise culture of the late 50's and early 60's had come and with it, rock n roll. Music and driving became his escape from the mundane classroom, he aspired to become a race car driver but this would soon come to a near fatal halt.
Three days before graduating high school, Lucas was driving his Fiat Bianchina when one of his classmates tail gated him, destroying the vehicle and injuring Lucas. He spent his graduation day in intensive care. His recovering period gave him time to reflect on his life, realizing his close encounter with death, Lucas decided to walk away from his reckless adolescence and hit the books.
Contrary to popular belief, Lucas didn't want to learn filmmaking. After the accident he was unsure of what he wanted to do and contemplated on becoming an architect, photographer or illustrator. At one point he wanted to apply to the Art Center College of Design but the high tuition prevented him. But his determination to pursue an academic subject of interest kept him going. He took general education classes at Modesto Junior college, discovering anthropology, he applied and was accepted to San Francisco State University. His interest in culture and mythology would later help in the making of Star Wars:
"Star Wars came out of my desire to make a modern fairy tale. In college I became fascinated by how culture is transmitted through fairy tales and myths. Fairy tales are how people learn about good and evil, about how to conduct themselves in society" (Kline 1999, 143).
However, his desire to attend Art School was still in the back of his mind and his best friend at the time asked Lucas to accompany him in taking an application test at USC. Lucas recalls, "My best friend was going to USC to go to business school and he wanted me to go and take the test with him. But I said, 'What am I going to do down there?' He said, 'Well if you go down there, they have a school of cinematography, which is like photography, and I know you like photography.' I thought it seemed close enough to art school, and I really wanted to go to art school.' (14). Lucas took the test and despite his average grades was accepted to USC's school of Cinematic Arts.
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