Big Time Director Turns 75

Director George Lucas, best known for directing the Star Wars  franchise , just turned 75.  Along with the Star Wars franchise he also directed one of my all time favorite movies, AMERICAN GRAFFITI.

American Graffiti was a career for some pretty big names, and they were all pretty young at the time the movie came out, which was 1973.

The movie was released in 1973 and when George Lucas directed it he was only 29.  Harrison Ford was not having a lot of luck getting his career started, so he turned to carpentry to pay the bills.   Lucky for him, he was doing some work at George Lucas's home, build some bookshelves or something...and George offered him a role in the film.  Ford was  31 at the time.

Others in the movie... Richard Dreyfuss was 26, and he went on to a big movie career, Cindy Williams was 26 and she went on to star in the tv show Laverne and Shirley.  Mackenzie Phillips , tv show One Day At A Time was only 14 at the time.  Child star turned director Ron Howard was 19, and Wolfman Jack was 36.

If you have never watched American Graffiti, you should check it our.  It is a fantastic movie.  The plot is about a couple of High School graduates spending one final night cruising the strip on their final night before heading off to college..