How one accident changed the life of iconic director George Lucas and led him to Star Wars

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Long before George Lucas became famous for his stories of the Force and the Death Star, he literally existed with only one thought and passion that occupied all of his time and energy, namely cars. However, it was the car that became the reason why the young guy's life changed dramatically, and thanks to which he became a popular director who shot more than one cult film.

He loved cars, he was attracted by speed, independence, night trips around the city of Modesto in California in search of girls, or as a lover of driving in the dark. Of course, the great director did not doze in it, making himself felt in many forms.

So, at that time, George was fascinated by such an incredible series as "Flash Gordon", which was broadcast on television, and also engaged in photography and loved various techniques. By the time he entered Thomas Downey High School around the late 1950s, though, he hadn't forgotten about speed and racing.

Bad student, but great racer

Biographer Brian Jay Jones, in his book George Lucas: A Life, recounts how a young, up-and-coming racer got on a motorcycle for the first time in his life, making several laps around the family ranch.

Finally, unable to withstand and surrendering under the pressure of his son's requests, George Sr. decided to buy him a car. The choice fell on the Autobianchi Bianchina - a tiny yellow car with a two-cylinder engine and which George Sr. thought would be able to take his offspring in complete safety from point A to point B.

Young Lucas immediately set to work on his car in a small garage. The first thing he did was upgrade the engine, and also attached racing belts. Autobianchi Bianchina turned into a real yellow rocket, which was capable of delivering such speeds in the city that it attracted the attention of the police. Lucas is also known to have tested his car in regional races. According to rumors, he even managed to win a very big sum that day.

The downside to love and passion for cars was the lack of any academic success. The fact that Lucas was practically a failure was the reason why the family was very tense. For example, George Sr. was very unhappy with the fact that his son did not make an effort to study and was not at all interested in heading their family clerical business in the future.

However, for the young driver, none of this was important. He counted the days when he would be able to start a career as a professional race car driver, and then finally break out of little Modesto, having experienced the exciting world beyond.

Lucas was seriously injured in his car

It happened on June 12, 1962, exactly three days before young Lucas was supposed to be at his high school graduation and receive his certificate. On that day, he was driving from the library, where he tried to find the necessary material for his term paper, but it turned out to be a waste of time. Returning home, he planned to spend another very awkward and stressful day with his parents, after which he was going to hit the road for the whole night.

As Lucas turned left to drive into his own ranch, he was hit by a Chevy Impala, which overturned the small yellow car as if it were a toy. The racing belts that Lucas had installed snapped and he was thrown onto the sidewalk just before the car crashed into a huge nut with a deafening crash.

The young driver was found unconscious when he had already turned blue. In the ambulance car, he vomited blood, and therefore the doctors quickly took him to the hospital. So, Lucas broke several bones, got a bruised lung, however, given how terrible the car accident was, he remained relatively safe and sound, having regained consciousness after a few hours.

Over the next four months that Lucas spent in the hospital, he pondered everything that happened that day. He thought about how the racing belt, which was designed to keep his body from damage during a collision, was simply not done with the task. That, however, did not stop him from saving the driver's life by throwing him onto the sidewalk before the car itself crashed into a tree.

George also thought about the fact that professional racers develop incredible speed in competition, and that their safety was probably always in question. He also remembered that not all professional racers managed to survive after one race or another. Soon it became completely clear to the young, eighteen-year-old boy that he no longer wanted to be a racer. All that remained was to figure out what he should do instead.

George drew attention to photography and cinema

Lucas retained his love for cars even after the accident, but he stopped being so fanatical. Instead of driving himself, the young man began to photograph other riders. Thanks to this passion, he managed to get to know and make friends with another racing fan and cinematographer - Haskell Wexler. Rumor has it that it was Haskell who helped and encouraged Lucas to go to film school at the University of Southern California.

It was there that George was able to fully reveal his phenomenal potential. First as a student and dreamer, then as a protégé of Francis Coppola himself, and then as a director and independent producer, which will become known all over the world.

Despite the fact that Lucas tried to stay away from the racetrack, his love of cars accompanied him all his life. So, his first work was the film "American Graffiti", which was filmed in 1973. At its core, it was an autobiographical movie that told about his school years, when he and his friends traveled the streets of Modesto, looking for love and adventure.

But the movie "Star Wars", released in 1977, has already shown the world full of adrenaline, air battles and dangers of the race taking place in the vastness of space.

All it took for Lucas to become so famous and beloved by the public was a simple car accident. After all, if this had not happened in his life, who knows, maybe the great genius, who gave the world more than one masterpiece, would have died as a result of his racing career, and none of us would have known about his outstanding talents …

And in continuation of the topic - an article about how he became one of the most beloved folk artists of Russian cinema.