1944: George Lucas is born in agricultural Modesto, California. He is a below-average student in high school, but rebounds to become one of the most successful independent directors and producers in film history.

Lucas had a passion for modding and racing cars that came to an end after he totaled his Autobianchi Bianchina days before graduation from Downey High.

After that fateful crash, Lucas picked up a camera and never looked back. He enrolled in Modesto Community College and commuted to San Francisco to soak up the experimental 16mm films of Stan Brakhage, Bruce Conner and others. He eventually met famed cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who became his first mentor. After transferring to USC film school, he met more filmmakers, including school dean and famous montagist Slavko Vorkapich, as well as students like Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola. Lucas and Coppola formed the indie studio American Zoetrope in 1969.

Lucas' first film for the fledgling enterprise was the underrated sci-fi dystopia THX-1138, a feature-length adaptation of his award-winning USC student short Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138 4EB. It was not an outright success, but its fearsome vision of a futurist society governed by dispassionate machines intent on eradicating freedom and individuality would reappear in Lucas' world-beating franchise: Star Wars.

One thing that THX-1138 did not do was make money. That accomplishment was left to Lucas' second feature, the nostalgic '60s comedy American Graffiti, which not only was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, but also spawned the successful television spin-off Happy Days.

Flush with cash and clout, Lucas founded Lucasfilm in Marin County, California, in 1971. It would go on to birth special-effects pioneers Industrial Light and Magic, audio innovators Skywalker Sound, the high-fidelity sound reproduction standard THX, game peddler LucasArts and Pixar, the award-winning animation studio bought in 1986 by Apple guru Steve Jobs.

Since its 1971 founding, Lucasfilm has produced or co-produced work that is alternately amazing (American Graffiti, the Indiana Jones franchise), underrated (Willow, Tucker: A Man and His Dream, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters) and forgettable (Howard the Duck, which Lucas quickly disowned after its 1986 release).

But it was his spiritual space-opera Star Wars that took Lucas from cinema standout to cultural and business influential. After pitching 1977's Star Wars: A New Hope to studios, he found only one taker, 20th Century Fox's Alan Ladd Jr.

Lucas sweetened the deal by waiving his up-front director's fee in favor of 40 percent of the box-office receipts and full ownership of the merchandising rights, which proved to be a prophetically savvy move: The epochal success of Star Wars netted Lucas hundreds of millions in revenue, setting the stage for the franchising and licensing deals that we now take for granted.

The stunning Empire Strikes Back and Ewok-infested closer Return of the Jedi followed shortly thereafter, sealing Lucas' reputation for good as a sci-fi heavyweight. After holding off the horde for years, he finally caved and revisited the franchise with a intensely anticipated prequel trilogy. From 1999 to 2005, Lucasfilm released live-action installments alternately considered amazing (Revenge of the Sith), underrated (The Phantom Menace) and forgettable (Attack of the Clones). Also in the mix was compelling animated TV programming like Genndy Tartakovky's stunning 2003 series Star Wars: Clone Wars and its currently airing CGI counterpart.

As Forbes' last count, the films — along with their lucrative multiverse-encompassing toys, games, comics, and other paraphernalia and ephemera — have earned around $20 billion. Lucas himself — recession notwithstanding —is still worth about three of those cool billions.

But those are just his artistic and technical achievements. Whether he's championing an educational wireless-broadband network at the U.S. Capitol, donating to the Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall, throwing his weight behind Barack Obama, or lavishly funding the film school that gave him his break, Lucas is plugged into not just art and tech but also politics and education.

What he didn't do is name the street on which Lucasfilm's sprawling Skywalker Ranch is located — well-known as 5858 Lucas Valley Road to industrious fanboys. That address was a pure coincidence. Or, perhaps, the will of The Force.

Happy Birthday, o Master Jedi.

Sources: Wikipedia, IMDb, Pixar, Lucasfilm

*Photo: George Lucas at Skywalker Ranch

Photographer: Michael Elins/*Wired magazine

See Also:

Gallery: George Lucas' Biggest Hits and Misses____

Meet Leland Chee, the Star Wars Franchise Continuity Cop

Star Wars Lights Up the Pumpkin Patch

Gallery: Star Wars, Aliens and Outta-This-World Lines at Comic-Con

May 14, 1796: Jenner Tests Vaccination on Human Subject

May 14, 1939: A 5-Year-Old Becomes Youngest Mother on Record

June 6, 1944: Artificial Harbor Paves the Way for Normandy Invasion

June 13, 1944: V-1 Rocket Ushers in a New Kind of Warfare

Aug. 7, 1944: Still a Few Bugs in the System

March 23, 1983: Reagan Taunts Russians With 'Star Wars' Plan

