As of 2008, the overall box office revenue generated by the six ''Star Wars'' films has totalled approximately $4.41 billion, making it the third-highest-grossing film series, behind only the ''Harry Potter'' and ''James Bond'' films.
The ''Star Wars'' film series has spawned a media franchise including books, television series, video games, and comic books. These supplements to the film trilogies comprise the ''Star Wars'' Expanded Universe, and have resulted in significant development of the series' fictional universe. These media kept the franchise going in the interim between the film trilogies. In 2008, ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' was released to theaters as the first ever worldwide theatrical ''Star Wars'' film outside of the main trilogies. It was the franchise's first animated film, and was intended as an introduction to the Expanded Universe series of the same name, a 3D CGI animated series based on a previous 2D animated series of a similar name.
One of the prominent elements of ''Star Wars'' is the "Force", an omnipresent energy that can be harnessed by those with that ability. It is described in the first produced film as "an energy field created by all living things [that] surrounds us, penetrates us, [and] binds the galaxy together." The Force allows users to perform a variety of supernatural feats (such as telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition, and mind control) and also can amplify certain physical traits, such as speed and reflexes; these abilities vary between characters and can be improved through training. While the Force can be used for good, it has a dark side that, when pursued, imbues users with hatred, aggression, and malevolence. The six films feature the Jedi, who use the Force for good, and the Sith, who use the dark side for evil in an attempt to take over the galaxy. In the ''Star Wars'' Expanded Universe, many dark side users are Dark Jedi rather than Sith, mainly because of the "Rule of Two" (see Sith Origin).
In 1997, to correspond with the 20th anniversary of ''Star Wars'', Lucas released "Special Editions" of the three films to theaters. The re-releases featured alterations to the original films, primarily motivated by the improvement of CGI and other special effects technologies, which allowed visuals that were not possible to achieve at the time of the original filmmaking. Lucas continued to make changes to the original trilogy for subsequent releases, such as the first ever DVD release of the trilogy on September 21, 2004.
More than two decades after the release of the original ''Star Wars'', the film series continued with the long-awaited prequel trilogy, consisting of ''Episode I: The Phantom Menace'', released on May 19, 1999; ''Episode II: Attack of the Clones'', released on May 16, 2002; and ''Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'', released on May 19, 2005.
The original trilogy begins 19 years later as Vader nears completion of the massive Death Star space station, which will allow the Empire to crush the Rebel Alliance, which has formed to combat Palpatine's tyranny. Vader captures Princess Leia Organa, who has stolen the plans to the Death Star and hidden them in the astromech droid R2-D2. R2-D2, along with his counterpart C-3PO, escape to the planet Tatooine. There, the droids are purchased by Luke Skywalker and his step-uncle and aunt. While Luke is cleaning R2-D2, he accidentally triggers a message put into the droid by Leia, who asks for assistance from Obi-Wan. Luke later assists the droids in finding the Jedi Knight, who is now passing as an old hermit under the alias Ben Kenobi. When Luke asks about his father, Obi-Wan tells him that Anakin was a great Jedi who was betrayed and murdered by Vader. Obi-Wan and Luke hire the smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca to take them to Alderaan, Leia's homeworld, which they eventually find has been destroyed by the Death Star. Once onboard the space station, Obi-Wan allows himself to be killed during a lightsaber rematch with Vader; his sacrifice allows the group to escape with the plans that help the rebels destroy the Death Star. It is Luke himself who fires the shot that destroys the deadly space station.
Three years later, Luke travels to find Yoda and start his Jedi training, but is interrupted when Vader lures him into a trap by capturing Han and the others. During a fierce lightsaber duel, Vader reveals that he is Luke's father and attempts to turn him to the dark side. Luke escapes, and, after rescuing Han from the gangster Jabba the Hutt a year later, returns to his training with Yoda, who by this time is on his deathbed. Before he passes away, Yoda confirms that Vader is Luke's father; moments later, Obi-Wan's spirit tells Luke that he must face his father before he can become a Jedi, and that Leia is his twin sister. As the Rebels attack the second Death Star, Luke confronts Vader as Palpatine watches; both Sith Lords intend to turn Luke to the dark side and take him as their apprentice. During the subsequent lightsaber duel, Luke succumbs to his anger and brutally overpowers Vader, but controls himself at the last minute; realizing that he is about to suffer his father's fate, he spares Vader's life and proudly declares his allegiance to the Jedi. An enraged Palpatine then attempts to kill Luke with Force lightning, a sight that moves Vader to turn on and kill his master, suffering mortal wounds in the process. Redeemed, Anakin Skywalker dies in his son's arms. Luke becomes a full-fledged Jedi, and the Rebels destroy the second Death Star and, with it, the Empire.
rowspan="2" style="width:12%;" | Character | Film | ||||||||
! style="text-align:center; width:15%;" | ! style="text-align:center; width:15%;" | ! style="text-align:center; width:15%;" | ! style="text-align:center; width:15%;" | ! style="text-align:center; width:15%;" | ! style="text-align:center; width:15%;" | |||||
Darth Vader | Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader | Jake Lloyd | Hayden Christensen | Hayden Christensen James Earl Jones (voice only; Darth Vader) | Vader: David ProwseJames Earl Jones (voice only)Anakin: Sebastian Shaw (actor)>Sebastian ShawHayden Christensen (2004 DVD release) | |||||
Obi-Wan Kenobi | ||||||||||
R2-D2 | ||||||||||
C-3PO | ||||||||||
Yoda | ||||||||||
Clive Revill (voice only)Ian McDiarmid(2004 DVD release) | Ian McDiarmid | |||||||||
Qui-Gon Jinn | Liam Neeson | Liam Neeson (voice only) | ||||||||
Nute Gunray | ||||||||||
Padmé Amidala | ||||||||||
Captain Panaka | Hugh Quarshie | colspan="5" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | ||||||||
Sio Bibble | colspan="3">Oliver Ford Davies | |||||||||
Jar Jar Binks | ||||||||||
Boss Nass | Brian Blessed (voice only) | colspan="5" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | ||||||||
Keira Knightley | colspan="5" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | |||||||||
Darth Maul | Ray Park< | Peter Serafinowicz (voice only) | colspan="5" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | |||||||
Watto | ||||||||||
Sebulba | Lewis MacLeod (voice only) | colspan="5" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | ||||||||
Shmi Skywalker | ||||||||||
Jabba the Hutt | Larry Ward (voice actor)>Larry Ward (voice only) | colspan="2" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | Larry Ward (voice actor)>Larry Ward (voice only) | style="background:#d3d3d3;" | Larry Ward (voice actor)>Larry Ward (voice only) | |||||
Bib Fortuna | Matthew Wood (sound editor)>Matthew Wood | colspan="4" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | Michael Carter (actor)>Michael CarterErik Bauersfeld (voice only) | |||||||
Chancellor Valorum | Terence Stamp | colspan="5" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | ||||||||
Mace Windu | ||||||||||
Ki-Adi-Mundi | ||||||||||
Captain Typho | ||||||||||
Bail Organa | ||||||||||
Zam Wesell | Leeanna Walsman | colspan="4" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | ||||||||
Jango Fett | Temuera Morrison | colspan="4" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | ||||||||
Dexter Jettster | Ronald Falk (voice only) | colspan="4" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | ||||||||
Boba Fett | Daniel Logan | style="background:#d3d3d3;" | ||||||||
Owen Lars | Phil Brown (actor)>Phil Brown | colspan="2" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | ||||||||
Shelagh Fraser | colspan="2" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | |||||||||
Cliegg Lars | Jack Thompson (actor)>Jack Thompson | colspan="4" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | ||||||||
General Grievous | Matthew Wood (sound editor)>Matthew Wood (voice only) | colspan="3" style="background:#d3d3d3;" | ||||||||
Chewbacca | ||||||||||
Luke Skywalker | Aidan Barton | colspan="3">Mark Hamill | ||||||||
Aidan Barton | colspan="3" | Carrie Fisher | ||||||||
Grand Moff Tarkin | Wayne Pygram | Peter Cushing | ||||||||
Han Solo | ||||||||||
Wedge Antilles | ||||||||||
Admiral Piett | ||||||||||
Lando Calrissian | ||||||||||
Admiral Ackbar | Timothy M. RoseErik Bauersfeld (voice only) | |||||||||
List of Star Wars characters#W | Wicket | Warwick Davis |
Lucas hired Ben Burtt to oversee the sound effects on ''A New Hope''. Burtt's accomplishment was such that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented him with a Special Achievement Award because it had no award at the time for the work he had done. Lucasfilm developed the THX sound reproduction standard for ''Return of the Jedi''. John Williams composed the scores for all six films. Lucas' design for ''Star Wars'' involved a grand musical sound, with leitmotifs for different characters and important concepts. Williams' ''Star Wars'' title theme has become one of the most famous and well-known musical compositions in modern music history.
The technical lightsaber choreography for the original trilogy was developed by Hollywood sword-master Bob Anderson. Anderson trained actor Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and performed all the sword stunts as Darth Vader during the lightsaber duels in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' and ''Return of the Jedi'', wearing Vader's costume. Anderson's role in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy was highlighted in the film ''Reclaiming the Blade'', where he shares his experiences as the fight choreographer developing the lightsaber techniques for the movies.
At that point, Lucas was not expecting the film to become part of a series. The fourth draft of the script underwent subtle changes that made it more satisfying as a self-contained film, ending with the destruction of the Empire itself by way of destroying the Death Star. However, Lucas ''had'' previously conceived of the film as the first in a series of adventures. Later, he realised the film would not in fact be the first in the sequence, but a film in the second trilogy in the saga. This is stated explicitly in George Lucas' preface to the 1994 reissue of ''Splinter of the Mind's Eye'':
It wasn't long after I began writing ''Star Wars'' that I realized the story was more than a single film could hold. As the saga of the Skywalkers and Jedi Knights unfolded, I began to see it as a tale that could take at least nine films to tell—three trilogies—and I realized, in making my way through the back story and after story, that I was really setting out to write the middle story.
The second draft contained a teaser for a never-made sequel about "The Princess of Ondos," and by the time of the third draft some months later Lucas had negotiated a contract that gave him rights to make two sequels. Not long after, Lucas met with author Alan Dean Foster, and hired him to write these two sequels as novels. The intention was that if ''Star Wars'' were successful, Lucas could adapt the novels into screenplays. He had also by that point developed a fairly elaborate backstory to aid his writing process.
When ''Star Wars'' proved successful, Lucas decided to use the film as the basis for an elaborate serial, although at one point he considered walking away from the series altogether. However, Lucas wanted to create an independent filmmaking center—what would become Skywalker Ranch—and saw an opportunity to use the series as a financing agent. Alan Dean Foster had already begun writing the first sequel novel, but Lucas decided to abandon his plan to adapt Foster's work; the book was released as ''Splinter of the Mind's Eye'' the following year. At first Lucas envisioned a series of films with no set number of entries, like the James Bond series. In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'' in August 1977, he said that he wanted his friends to each take a turn at directing the films and giving unique interpretations on the series. He also said that the backstory in which Darth Vader turns to the dark side, kills Luke's father and fights Ben Kenobi on a volcano as the Galactic Republic falls would make an excellent sequel.
Later that year, Lucas hired science fiction author Leigh Brackett to write ''Star Wars II'' with him. They held story conferences and, by late November 1977, Lucas had produced a handwritten treatment called ''The Empire Strikes Back''. The treatment is very similar to the final film, except that Darth Vader does not reveal he is Luke's father. In the first draft that Brackett would write from this, Luke's father appears as a ghost to instruct Luke.
Brackett finished her first draft in early 1978; Lucas has said he was disappointed with it, but before he could discuss it with her, she died of cancer. With no writer available, Lucas had to write his next draft himself. It was this draft in which Lucas first made use of the "Episode" numbering for the films; ''Empire Strikes Back'' was listed as ''Episode II''. As Michael Kaminski argues in ''The Secret History of Star Wars'', the disappointment with the first draft probably made Lucas consider different directions in which to take the story. He made use of a new plot twist: Darth Vader claims to be Luke's father. According to Lucas, he found this draft enjoyable to write, as opposed to the year-long struggles writing the first film, and quickly wrote two more drafts, both in April 1978. He also took the script to a darker extreme by having Han Solo imprisoned in carbonite and left in limbo.
This new story point of Darth Vader being Luke's father had drastic effects on the series. Michael Kaminski argues in his book that it is unlikely that the plot point had ever seriously been considered or even conceived of before 1978, and that the first film was clearly operating under an alternate storyline where Vader was separate from Luke's father; there is not a single reference to this plot point before 1978. After writing the second and third drafts of ''Empire Strikes Back'' in which the point was introduced, Lucas reviewed the new backstory he had created: Anakin Skywalker was Ben Kenobi's brilliant student and had a child named Luke, but was swayed to the dark side by Emperor Palpatine (who became a Sith and not simply a politician). Anakin battled Ben Kenobi on the site of a volcano and was wounded, but then resurrected as Darth Vader. Meanwhile Kenobi hid Luke on Tatooine while the Republic became the Empire and Vader systematically hunted down and killed the Jedi. With this new backstory in place, Lucas decided that the series would be a trilogy, changing ''Empire Strikes Back'' from ''Episode II'' to ''Episode V'' in the next draft. Lawrence Kasdan, who had just completed writing ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', was then hired to write the next drafts, and was given additional input from director Irvin Kershner. Kasdan, Kershner, and producer Gary Kurtz saw the film as a more serious and adult film, which was helped by the new, darker storyline, and developed the series from the light adventure roots of the first film.
By the time he began writing ''Episode VI'' in 1981 (then titled ''Revenge of the Jedi''), much had changed. Making ''Empire Strikes Back'' was stressful and costly, and Lucas' personal life was disintegrating. Burned out and not wanting to make any more ''Star Wars'' films, he vowed that he was done with the series in a May 1983 interview with ''Time'' magazine. Lucas' 1981 rough drafts had Darth Vader competing with the Emperor for possession of Luke—and in the second script, the "revised rough draft", Vader became a sympathetic character. Lawrence Kasdan was hired to take over once again and, in these final drafts, Vader was explicitly redeemed and finally unmasked. This change in character would provide a springboard to the "Tragedy of Darth Vader" storyline that underlies the prequels.
In 1994, Lucas began writing the first screenplay titled ''Episode I: The Beginning''. Following the release of that film, Lucas announced that he would also be directing the next two, and began working on ''Episode II'' at that time. The first draft of ''Episode II'' was completed just weeks before principal photography, and Lucas hired Jonathan Hales, a writer from ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'', to polish it. Unsure of a title, Lucas had jokingly called the film "Jar Jar's Great Adventure." In writing ''The Empire Strikes Back'', Lucas initially decided that Lando Calrissian was a clone and came from a planet of clones which caused the "Clone Wars" mentioned by Obi-Wan Kenobi in ''A New Hope''; he later came up with an alternate concept of an army of clone shocktroopers from a remote planet which attacked the Republic and were repelled by the Jedi. The basic elements of that backstory became the plot basis for ''Episode II'', with the new wrinkle added that Palpatine secretly orchestrated the crisis.
Lucas began working on ''Episode III'' before ''Attack of the Clones'' was released, offering concept artists that the film would open with a montage of seven Clone War battles. As he reviewed the storyline that summer, however, he says he radically re-organized the plot. Michael Kaminski, in ''The Secret History of Star Wars'', offers evidence that issues in Anakin's fall to the dark side prompted Lucas to make massive story changes, first revising the opening sequence to have Palpatine kidnapped and his apprentice, Count Dooku, murdered by Anakin as the first act in the latter's turn towards the dark side. After principal photography was complete in 2003, Lucas made even more massive changes in Anakin's character, re-writing his entire turn to the dark side; he would now turn primarily in a quest to save Padmé's life, rather than the previous version in which that reason was one of several, including that he genuinely believed that the Jedi were evil and plotting to take over the Republic. This fundamental re-write was accomplished both through editing the principal footage, and new and revised scenes filmed during pick-ups in 2004.
Lucas often exaggerated the amount of material he wrote for the series; much of it stemmed from the post–1978 period when the series grew into a phenomenon. Michael Kaminski explained that these exaggerations were both a publicity and security measure. Kaminski rationalized that since the series' story radically changed throughout the years, it was always Lucas' intention to change the original story retroactively because audiences would only view the material from his perspective.
Lucas has hinted in the past that he will release future, more definitive editions of the six ''Star Wars'' films on a next-generation home-video format. There have been discussions that he will take this opportunity to make any final adjustments, changes, additions, and/or subtractions to his films for this final release. An altered clip from ''The Phantom Menace'' included in a featurette on the DVD release of ''Revenge of the Sith'' features a computer generated Yoda replacing the original puppet; animation director Rob Coleman stated that the clip had been created as test footage of Yoda prior to work on ''Revenge of the Sith''. Lucasfilm Vice President of Marketing Jim Ward announced that Lucasfilm is likely to do more work on the films, stating "As the technology evolves and we get into a high-definition platform that is easily consumable by our customers, the situation is much better, but there will always be work to be done." At Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo 2010, Steve Sansweet, Lucasfilm's Director of Fan Relations, revealed that "a very full set of all six movies on Blu-ray with lots of extra material" is being prepared for release. On August 14, 2010, George Lucas announced that all six ''Star Wars'' films will be released on Blu-ray Disc in the Fall of 2011. On January 6, 2011, Lucasfilm announced the release of the ''Star Wars'' saga on Blu-ray for September 2011. In May 2011, a website counted down to May the Fourth, and now has more information about the Blu-ray edition.
Film | Release date | Box office revenue | Box office ranking | |||||
United States | Foreign | Worldwide | Adjusted forinflation (US) | All-time domestic | All-time worldwide | |||
''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' | May 25, 1977 | |||||||
''Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back'' | May 21, 1980 | |||||||
''Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi'' | May 25, 1983 | |||||||
Original ''Star Wars'' trilogy | ! | $|}}}} | |
! | ! | |||
''Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace'' | May 19, 1999 | |||||||
''Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones'' | May 16, 2002 | |||||||
''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'' | May 19, 2005 | |||||||
Prequel ''Star Wars'' trilogy | ! | $|}}}} | |
! | ! | |||
August 15, 2008 | ||||||||
Complete ''Star Wars'' film series | ! | $|||||}}}} | |
! | ! |
Film | '''Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | |
! Overall | ! Cream of the Crop | ||
''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' | 94% (67 reviews) | 88% (17 reviews) | 91 (13 reviews) |
''Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back'' | 97% (71 reviews) | 88% (17 reviews) | 78 (15 reviews) |
''Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi'' | 78% (65 reviews) | 76% (17 reviews) | 52 (14 reviews) |
''Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace'' | 61% (161 reviews) | 40% (47 reviews) | 52 (35 reviews) |
''Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones'' | 67% (218 reviews) | 40% (40 reviews) | 53 (39 reviews) |
''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'' | 80% (253 reviews) | 67% (43 reviews) | 68 (40 reviews) |
19% (152 reviews) | 15% (27 reviews) | 35 (30 reviews) | |
! Average | ! 71% | ! 59% | ! 61 |
Award | Awards Won | |||||
''IV: A New Hope'' | ''V: The Empire Strikes Back'' | ''VI: Return of the Jedi'' | ''I: The Phantom Menace'' | ''II: Attack of the Clones'' | ''III: Revenge of the Sith'' | |
Actor in a Supporting Role | ||||||
Art Direction-Set Decoration | ||||||
Costume Design | ||||||
Director | ||||||
Film Editing | ||||||
Makeup | ||||||
Music (Original Score) | ||||||
Picture | ||||||
Screenplay – Original | ||||||
Sound Editing | ||||||
Sound (Mixing) | ||||||
Visual Effects | ||||||
Special Achievement Award |
George Lucas retains artistic control over the ''Star Wars'' universe. For example, the death of central characters and similar changes in the status quo must first pass his screening before authors are given the go-ahead. In addition, Lucasfilm Licensing devotes efforts to ensure continuity between the works of various authors across companies. Elements of the Expanded Universe have been adopted by Lucas for use in the films, such as the name of capital planet Coruscant, which first appeared in Timothy Zahn's novel ''Heir to the Empire'' before being used in ''The Phantom Menace''. Additionally, Lucas so liked the character Aayla Secura, who was introduced in Dark Horse Comics' ''Star Wars'' series, that he included her as a character in ''Attack of the Clones''.
Lucas has played a large role in the production of various television projects, usually serving as storywriter or executive producer. ''Star Wars'' has had numerous radio adaptations. A radio adaptation of ''A New Hope'' was first broadcast on National Public Radio in 1981. The adaptation was written by science fiction author Brian Daley and directed by John Madden. It was followed by adaptations of ''The Empire Strikes Back'' in 1983 and ''Return of the Jedi'' in 1996. The adaptations included background material created by Lucas but not used in the films. Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams reprised their roles as Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and Lando Calrissian, respectively, except in ''Return of the Jedi'' in which Luke was played by Joshua Fardon and Lando by Arye Gross. The series also used John Williams' original score from the films and Ben Burtt's original sound designs.
LucasBooks radically changed the face of the ''Star Wars'' universe with the introduction of the ''New Jedi Order'' series, which takes place some 20 years after ''Return of the Jedi'' and stars a host of new characters alongside series originals. For younger audiences, three series have been introduced. The ''Jedi Apprentice'' series follows the adventures of Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi prior to ''The Phantom Menace''. The ''Jedi Quest'' series follows the adventures of Obi-Wan and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker in between ''The Phantom Menace'' and ''Attack of the Clones''. ''The Last of the Jedi'' series follows the adventures of Obi-Wan and another surviving Jedi almost immediately following ''Revenge of the Sith''.
Marvel Comics published ''Star Wars'' comic book series and adaptations from 1977 to 1986. A wide variety of creators worked on this series, including Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin, Howard Chaykin, Al Williamson, Carmine Infantino, Gene Day, Walt Simonson, Michael Golden, Chris Claremont, Whilce Portacio, Jo Duffy, and Ron Frenz. The Los Angeles Times Syndicate published a ''Star Wars'' newspaper strip by Russ Manning, Goodwin and Williamson with Goodwin writing under a pseudonym. In the late 1980s, Marvel announced it would publish a new ''Star Wars'' comic by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. However, in December 1991, Dark Horse Comics acquired the ''Star Wars'' license and used it to launch a number of ambitious sequels to the original trilogy instead, including the popular ''Dark Empire'' stories. They have since gone on to publish a large number of original adventures set in the ''Star Wars'' universe. There have also been parody comics, including ''Tag and Bink''.
The most recently released games are ''Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga'', Lego Star Wars, The Clone Wars, ''Star Wars: The Force Unleashed'' and ''Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II'', for the PS3, PSP, PS2, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and Wii. While ''The Complete Saga'' focuses on all six episodes of the series, ''The Force Unleashed'', of the same name of the multimedia project which it is a part of, takes place in the largely unexplored time period between ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'' and ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' and casts players as Darth Vader's "secret apprentice" hunting down the remaining Jedi. The game features a new game engine, and was released on September 16, 2008 in the United States. There are two more titles based on the Clone Wars which were released in November 2008 for the Nintendo DS (''Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance'') and Wii (''Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels'').
Star Wars trading cards have been published since the first 'blue' series, by Topps, in 1977. Dozens of series have been produced, with Topps being the licensed creator in the United States. Some of the card series are of film stills, while others are original art. Many of the cards have become highly collectible with some very rare "promos", such as the 1993 Galaxy Series II "floating Yoda" P3 card often commanding US$1000 or more. While most "base" or "common card" sets are plentiful, many "insert" or "chase cards" are very rare.
The board game Risk has been adapted to the series in two editions by Hasbro: Risk Star Wars: The Original Trilogy Edition (2006) and Risk Star Wars: Clone Wars Edition (2005).
While many fan films have used elements from the licensed Expanded Universe to tell their story, they are not considered an official part of the ''Star Wars'' canon. However, the lead character from the ''Pink Five'' series was incorporated into Timothy Zahn's 2007 novel ''Allegiance'', marking the first time a fan-created ''Star Wars'' character has ever crossed into the official canon. Lucasfilm, for the most part, has allowed but not endorsed the creation of these derivative fan-fiction works, so long as no such work attempts to make a profit from or tarnish the ''Star Wars'' franchise in any way.
The attractions at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios closed on July 27, 2010 and September 7, 2010 respectively, in order to allow the rides to be converted into Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. The successor attraction opened at Disney's Hollwood Studios on May 20, 2011 and June 3, at Disneyland.
The Jedi Training Academy is a live show where children are selected to learn the teachings of the Jedi Knights and the Force in order to become Padawan learners. The show is present at the Rebels stage at Disney's Hollywood Studios and at the Tomorrowland Terrace at Disneyland.
The Walt Disney World Resort's Disney's Hollywood Studios park hosts an annual festival, ''Star Wars'' Weekends during specific dates from May to June. The event began in 1997.
When Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a system of lasers and missiles meant to intercept incoming ICBMs, the plan was quickly labeled "Star Wars," implying that it was science fiction and linking it to Ronald Reagan's acting career. According to Frances FitzGerald, Reagan was annoyed by this, but Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle told colleagues that he "thought the name was not so bad."; "'Why not?' he said. 'It's a good movie. Besides, the good guys won.'" This gained further resonance when Reagan described the Soviet Union as an "Evil empire".
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Coordinates | 29°25′″N98°30′″N |
---|---|
name | Sir Alec Guinness |
birth name | Alec Guinness de Cuffe |
birth date | April 02, 1914 |
birth place | Paddington, London, England, United Kingdom |
death date | August 05, 2000 |
death place | Midhurst, West Sussex, England, United Kingdom |
yearsactive | 1934–96 |
occupation | Actor |
spouse | Merula Salaman(m. 1938–2000) |
children | Matthew Guinness }} |
It has been frequently speculated that the actor's father was a member of the Irish Guinness family. However, it was a Scottish banker, Andrew Geddes, who paid for Guinness's private school education. From 1875, under English law, when the birth of an illegitimate child was registered, the father's name could only be entered on the certificate if he were present and gave his consent. Guinness and Geddes never met, and the identity of Guinness's father has never been confirmed. Guinness was uninterested in his mother, who later had a short marriage to a violent, shell-shocked veteran of the Irish War of Independence.
Guinness continued playing Shakespearean roles throughout his career. In 1937 he played Aumerle in ''Richard II'' and Lorenzo in ''The Merchant of Venice'' under the direction of John Gielgud. He starred in a 1938 production of ''Hamlet'' which won him acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. He also appeared as Romeo in a production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1939), Andrew Aguecheek in ''Twelfth Night'' and as Exeter in ''Henry V'' in 1937, both opposite Laurence Olivier, and Ferdinand in ''The Tempest,'' opposite Gielgud as Prospero.
In 1939, he adapted Charles Dickens' novel ''Great Expectations'' for the stage, playing the part of Herbert Pocket. The play was a success. One of its viewers was a young British film editor, David Lean, who would later have Guinness reprise his role in Lean's 1946 film adaptation of the play.
Guinness served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in World War II, serving first as a seaman in 1941 and being commissioned the following year. He commanded a landing craft taking part in the invasion of Sicily and Elba and later ferried supplies to the Yugoslav partisans.
During the war, he was granted leave to appear in the Broadway production of Terence Rattigan's play ''Flare Path'' about the RAF Bomber Command.
Invited by his friend Tyrone Guthrie to join the premier season of the Stratford Festival of Canada, Guinness lived for a brief time in Stratford, Ontario. On July 13, 1953, Guinness spoke the first lines of the first play produced by the festival, Shakespeare's ''Richard III'': "Now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this sun of York."
Guinness won a Tony Award for his Broadway performance as poet Dylan Thomas in ''Dylan''. He next played the title role in ''Macbeth'' opposite Simone Signoret at the Royal Court Theatre in 1966, a conspicuous failure.
His final performance was at the Comedy Theatre on May 30, 1989 in the play ''A Walk in the Woods''. Sandwiched between April 2, 1934, and May 30, 1989, he played 77 parts in the theatre.
He won particular acclaim for his work with director David Lean. After appearing in Lean's ''Great Expectations'' and ''Oliver Twist'', he was given a starring role opposite William Holden in ''The Bridge on the River Kwai''. For his performance as Colonel Nicholson, the unyielding British POW leader, Guinness won an Academy Award. Despite a difficult and often hostile relationship, Lean, referring to Guinness as "my good luck charm", continued to cast Guinness in character roles in his later films: Arab leader Prince Feisal in ''Lawrence of Arabia''; the title character's half-brother, Bolshevik leader Yevgraf, in ''Doctor Zhivago''; and Indian mystic Godbole in ''A Passage to India''. He was also offered a role in Lean's ''Ryan's Daughter'' (1970), but declined.
Other notable film roles of this period included ''The Swan'' (1956) with Grace Kelly, in her second to last film role; ''The Horse's Mouth'' (1958) in which Guinness played the part of drunken painter Gulley Jimson as well as contributing the screenplay, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award; the lead in Carol Reed's ''Our Man in Havana'' (1959); Marcus Aurelius in ''The Fall of the Roman Empire'' (1964); ''The Quiller Memorandum'' (1966); Marley's Ghost in ''Scrooge'' (1970); Charles I of England in ''Cromwell'' (1970); and the title role in ''Hitler: The Last Ten Days'' (1973), which he considered his best film performance, though critics disagreed.
Guinness also played the role of Jamessir Bensonmum, the blind butler, in the 1976 Neil Simon film ''Murder By Death''.
Despite these rewards, Guinness soon became unhappy with being identified with the part, and expressed dismay at the fan-following that the ''Star Wars'' trilogy attracted. In the DVD commentary of ''Star Wars: A New Hope'', director George Lucas says that Guinness was not happy with the script re-write in which Obi-Wan is killed. However, Guinness said in a 1999 interview that it was actually his idea to kill off Obi-Wan, persuading Lucas that it would make him a stronger character, and that Lucas agreed to the idea. Guinness stated in the interview, "What I didn't tell Lucas was that I just couldn't go on speaking those bloody awful, banal lines. I'd had enough of the mumbo jumbo." He went on to say that he "shrivelled up" every time ''Star Wars'' was mentioned to him.
Although Guinness disliked the fame attracted by work he did not esteem, Lucas and fellow cast members Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Anthony Daniels, and Carrie Fisher have spoken highly of his courtesy and professionalism, both on and off the set. Lucas credited him with inspiring cast and crew to work harder, saying that Guinness contributed significantly to achieving completion of the filming. Guinness was quoted as saying that the royalties he obtained from working on the films gave him "no complaints; let me leave it by saying I can live for the rest of my life in the reasonably modest way I am now used to, that I have no debts and I can afford to refuse work that doesn't appeal to me." In his autobiography, ''Blessings In Disguise'', Guinness tells an imaginary interviewer "Blessed be ''Star Wars''", regarding the income it provided.
In the final volume of the book ''A Positively Final Appearance'' (1997), Guinness recounts grudgingly giving an autograph to a young fan who claimed to have watched ''Star Wars'' over 100 times, on the condition that the boy promise to stop watching the film, because, as Guinness told him, "this is going to be an ill effect on your life." The fan was stunned at first, but later thanked him (though some sources say it went differently). Guinness grew so tired of modern audiences apparently knowing him only for his role of Obi-Wan Kenobi that he would throw away the mail he received from ''Star Wars'' fans without reading it.
One of Guinness's last appearances was in the BBC drama ''Eskimo Day''.
For his theatre work, he received an Evening Standard Award for his performance as T.E. Lawrence in ''Ross'' and a Tony Award for his Broadway turn as Dylan Thomas in ''Dylan''.
Guinness was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1955, and was knighted in 1959. In 1991, he received an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University. Three years later, at age 80, he was given the title of Companion of Honour.
Guinness received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1559 Vine Street on 8 February 1960.
In his biography, ''Alec Guinness: The Unknown'', Garry O'Connor says that Guinness was arrested and fined 10 guineas for a homosexual act in a public lavatory in Liverpool in 1946. Guinness avoided publicity by giving his name to police and court as "Herbert Pocket", the name of the character he played in ''Great Expectations''. The incident did not become public knowledge until April 2001, eight months after his death. Piers Paul Read, Guinness's official biographer, doubts that this incident actually occurred. He believes that Guinness was confused with John Gielgud, who was infamously arrested for such an act around the same period.
Alec Guinness consulted Tarot cards for a time, but came to the conclusion that the symbols of the cards mocked Christianity and burned the cards.
! Year | ! Title | ! Role | Notes |
1934 | ''Evensong'' | Extra (World War I soldier in audience) | uncredited |
1946 | |||
1948 | Fagin | ||
1949 | ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' | , The Banker, The Parson,|The General, The Admiral,|Young D'Ascoyne, Young Henry,|Lady Agatha}} | National Board of Review Award for Best Actor |
1949 | '''' | Whimple | |
1950 | George Bird | ||
1950 | '''' | Benjamin Disraeli | |
1951 | '''' | Henry Holland | |
1951 | '''' | Sidney Stratton | |
1952 | '''' | Edward Henry 'Denry' Machin | released in the United States as ''The Promoter'' |
1953 | '''' | narrator | short subject |
1953 | ''Malta Story'' | Flight Lt. Peter Ross | |
1953 | '''' | Capt. Henry St. James | |
1954 | Father Brown | ||
1954 | '''' | Himself | short subject |
1955 | ''Rowlandson's England'' | narrator | short subject |
1955 | ''To Paris with Love'' | Col. Sir Edgar Fraser | |
1955 | '''' | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role | |
1955 | '''' | Professor Marcus | |
1956 | '''' | Prince Albert | |
1957 | '''' | Col. Nicholson | |
1957 | Captain William Horatio Ambrose | released in the United States as ''All at Sea'' | |
1958 | '''' | Gulley Jimson | |
1959 | Jim Wormold | ||
1959 | '''' | John Barratt/Jacques De Gue | |
1960 | ''Tunes of Glory'' | Maj. Jock Sinclair, D.S.O., M.M. | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role |
1962 | '''' | Koichi Asano | |
1962 | ''H.M.S. Defiant'' | Captain Crawford | |
1962 | |||
1964 | '''' | Marcus Aurelius | |
1965 | ''Pasternak'' | Himself | short subject |
1965 | ''Situation Hopeless ... But Not Serious'' | Wilhelm Frick | |
1965 | Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago | ||
1966 | Benedict Boniface | ||
1966 | '''' | Pol | |
1967 | '''' | Himself | uncredited, short subject |
1967 | '''' | Major H.O. Jones | Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor |
1970 | |||
1970 | Jacob Marley's ghost | ||
1972 | ''Brother Sun, Sister Moon'' | Pope Innocent III | |
1973 | ''Hitler: The Last Ten Days'' | Adolf Hitler | |
1976 | ''Murder by Death'' | Jamesir Bensonmum | |
1977 | ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' | Obi-Wan Kenobi | |
1979 | ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' | George Smiley | British Academy Television Award for Best Actor |
1980 | ''Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back'' | Obi-Wan Kenobi | |
1980 | John Bigalow | ||
1980 | Earl of Dorincourt | ||
1982 | ''Smiley's People'' | George Smiley | |
1983 | ''Lovesick'' | Sigmund Freud | |
1983 | ''Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi'' | Obi-Wan Kenobi | |
1984 | '''' | Professor Godbole | |
1985 | ''Monsignor Quixote'' | Monsignor Quixote | |
1988 | William Dorrit | ||
1988 | '''' | Mr. Todd | |
1991 | |||
1993 | '''' | Amos | |
1994 | ''Mute Witness'' | ||
1996 | ''Eskimo Day'' | James |
Category:1914 births Category:2000 deaths Category:20th-century actors Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:Actors awarded British knighthoods Category:Actors from London Category:European Film Awards winners (people) Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Best British Actor BAFTA Award winners Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Cancer deaths in England Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism Category:Copywriters Category:Deaths from liver cancer Category:English film actors Category:English memoirists Category:English Roman Catholics Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Category:Olivier Award winners Category:People from Paddington Category:Petersfield, Hampshire Category:Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Category:Royal Navy officers Category:Tony Award winners
ar:أليك غينيس an:Alec Guinness bs:Alec Guinness bg:Алек Гинес ca:Alec Guinness da:Alec Guinness de:Alec Guinness el:Άλεκ Γκίνες es:Alec Guinness eo:Alec Guinness eu:Alec Guinness fa:الک گینس fo:Alec Guinness fr:Alec Guinness fy:Alec Guinness ga:Alec Guinness gd:Alec Guinness gl:Alec Guinness hr:Alec Guinness io:Alec Guinness id:Alec Guinness is:Alec Guinness it:Alec Guinness he:אלק גינס ka:ალეკ გინესი la:Alec Guinness hu:Alec Guinness nl:Alec Guinness ja:アレック・ギネス no:Alec Guinness pl:Alec Guinness pt:Alec Guinness ro:Alec Guinness ru:Гиннесс, Алек simple:Alec Guinness sl:Alec Guinness sr:Алек Гинис sh:Alec Guinness fi:Alec Guinness sv:Alec Guinness tl:Alec Guinness th:อเล็ก กินเนสส์ tr:Alec Guinness yo:Alec Guinness zh:亚历克·吉尼斯This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Coordinates | 29°25′″N98°30′″N |
---|---|
birth date | July 13, 1942 |
birth place | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
occupation | Actor, producer |
years active | 1963–present |
spouse | Mary Marquardt(1964–1979; divorced)Melissa Mathison(1983–2004; divorced)Calista Flockhart (2010–present) |
website | }} |
In 1997, Ford was ranked No.1 in ''Empire'' "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. , the United States domestic box office grosses of Ford's films total almost US$3.4 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $6 billion, making Ford the third highest grossing U.S. domestic box-office star. Ford is the husband of actress Calista Flockhart.
Ford was active in the Boy Scouts of America, and achieved its second-highest rank, Life Scout. He worked at a scout camp, Napowan Adventure Base, as a counselor for the Reptile Study merit badge. Because of this, he and Eagle Scout director Steven Spielberg later decided to depict the young Indiana Jones as a Life Scout in the film ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade''. They also jokingly reversed Ford's knowledge of reptiles into Jones' fear of snakes.
In 1960, Ford graduated from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. His was the first student voice broadcast on his high school's new radio station, WMTH, and he was its first sportscaster during his senior year (1959–1960). He attended Ripon College in Wisconsin, where he was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. He took a drama class in his junior year, chiefly as a way to meet women. Ford, a self-described "late bloomer," became fascinated with acting.
His speaking roles continued next with ''Luv'' (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film, ''A Time for Killing'', but the "J" did not stand for anything, since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932, and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier Harrison Ford until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including ''Gunsmoke'', ''Ironside'', ''The Virginian'', ''The F.B.I.'', ''Love, American Style'', and ''Kung Fu''. He appeared in the western ''Journey to Shiloh'' (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film ''Zabriskie Point'', as an arrested student protester. Not happy with the roles being offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two small sons. While working as a carpenter, he became a stagehand for the popular rock band The Doors. He also built a sun deck for actress Sally Kellerman and a recording studio for director Sérgio Mendes.
He was then hired to build cabinets at the home of director George Lucas, who subsequently cast him in a pivotal supporting role for his film ''American Graffiti'' (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas affected his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film ''The Godfather'' was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, ''The Conversation'' (1974) and ''Apocalypse Now'' (1979).
The 1990s brought Ford the role of Jack Ryan in Tom Clancy's ''Patriot Games'' (1992) and ''Clear and Present Danger'' (1994), as well as leading roles in Alan Pakula's ''Presumed Innocent'' (1990) and ''The Devil's Own'' (1997), Andrew Davis' ''The Fugitive'' (1993), Sydney Pollack's remake of ''Sabrina'' (1995), and Wolfgang Petersen's ''Air Force One'' (1997). Ford also played straight dramatic roles, including an adulterous husband in both ''Presumed Innocent'' (1990) and ''What Lies Beneath'' (2000), and a recovering amnesiac in Mike Nichols' ''Regarding Henry'' (1991).
Many of Ford's major film roles came to him by default through unusual circumstances: he won the role of Han Solo while reading lines for other actors, was cast as Indiana Jones because Tom Selleck was not available, and took the role of Jack Ryan due to Alec Baldwin's fee demands (Baldwin had previously played the role in ''The Hunt for Red October'').
In 2004, Ford declined a chance to star in the thriller ''Syriana'', later commenting that "I didn't feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake." The role eventually went to George Clooney, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his work. Prior to that, he had passed on a role in another Stephen Gaghan-written role, Robert Wakefield in ''Traffic''. That role went to Michael Douglas.
In 2008, Ford enjoyed success with the release of ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', another collaboration between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. The film received generally mixed reviews but was the second highest-grossing film worldwide in 2008. He later said he would like to star in another sequel, "...if it didn't take another 20 years to digest."
Other 2008 work included ''Crossing Over'', directed by Wayne Kramer. In the film, he plays an immigrations officer, working alongside Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta. He also narrated a feature documentary film about the Dalai Lama entitled ''Dalai Lama Renaissance''.
Ford filmed the medical drama ''Extraordinary Measures'' in 2009 in Portland, Oregon. Released January 22, 2010, the film also starred Brendan Fraser and Alan Ruck. Also in 2010, he co-starred in the film ''Morning Glory,'' along with Patrick Wilson, Rachel McAdams, and Diane Keaton.
He has expressed interest in returning to the ''Jack Ryan'' franchise.
In July 2011, Ford starred alongside Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde in the science fiction Western film ''Cowboys & Aliens''. Ford portrays Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde, a character who rules the town of Absolution with an iron fist. Ford and executive producer Steven Spielberg did not want to have the character wear a cowboy hat because they were worried that it would remind audiences of the ''Indiana Jones'' films. Ford described his character as a "grumpy old man." To promote the film, Ford made his first appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con International, being led onstage in handcuffs by two security guards, giving the audience the impression that he was being dragged to Comic-Con against his will. However, the actor's arrival involuntarily referred to an actual assault that occurred shortly before the presentation of the film, after which the alleged assailant was taken away in handcuffs. Ford received a long standing ovation as he joined his co-stars, and, apparently surprised by the warm welcome, told the audience, "I just wanted to make a living as an actor. I didn't know about this."
Ford began dating actress Calista Flockhart after meeting at the 2002 Golden Globes, and together they are parents to her adopted son, Liam. Ford proposed to Flockhart over Valentine's Day weekend in 2009. They were married on June 15, 2010, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Ford was filming ''Cowboys and Aliens''.
Ford has three grandchildren: Eliel (born 1993), Giuliana (born 1997), and Ethan (born 2000). Son Benjamin owns Ford's Filling Station, a gastro pub in Culver City, California. Son Willard is co-owner of Ford & Ching showroom, as well as Ludwig Clothing company.
Ford began flight training in the 1960s at Wild Rose Airport in Wisconsin, flying in a Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer, but at $15 an hour he was unable to continue the training. In the mid-1990s, he bought a used Gulfstream II and asked one of his pilots, Terry Bender, to give him flying lessons. They started flying a Cessna 182 out of Jackson, Wyoming, later switching to Teterboro, New Jersey, flying a Cessna 206, the aircraft he soloed in.
On October 23, 1999, Harrison Ford was involved in the crash of a Bell 206L4 LongRanger helicopter (N36R). The NTSB accident report states that Ford was piloting the aircraft over the Lake Piru riverbed near Santa Clarita, California, on a routine training flight. While making his second attempt at an autorotation with powered recovery Ford allowed the aircraft's altitude to drop to 150–200 feet before beginning power up. As a result the aircraft was unable to recover power before hitting the ground. The aircraft landed hard and began skidding forward in the loose gravel before one of its skids struck a partially embedded log and flipped onto its side. Neither Ford nor the instructor pilot suffered any injuries though the helicopter was seriously damaged. When asked about the incident by fellow pilot James Lipton in an interview on the TV show ''Inside the Actor's Studio'' Ford replied, "I broke it."
Ford keeps his aircraft at Santa Monica Airport, though the Bell 407 is often kept and flown in Jackson, Wyoming, and has been used by the actor in two mountain rescues during the actor's assigned duty time assisting the Teton County Search and Rescue. On one of the rescues Ford recovered a hiker who had become lost and disoriented. She boarded Ford's Bell 407 and promptly vomited into one of the rescuers' caps, unaware of who the pilot was until much later; "I can't believe I barfed in Harrison Ford's helicopter!" she said later.
Ford flies his de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver (N28S) more than any of his other aircraft, and although he dislikes showing favoritism, he has repeatedly stated that he likes this aircraft and the sound of its Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engine. Ford first encountered the Beaver while filming ''Six Days Seven Nights'', and soon purchased one. Kenmore Air in Kenmore, Washington, restored Ford's yellow and green Beaver — a junked former U.S. military aircraft — with updated avionics and an upgraded engine. According to Ford, it had been flown in the CIA's Air America operations, and was riddled with bullet holes that had to be patched up. He uses it regularly for impromptu fly-ins at remote airports and bush strips, as well as gatherings with other Beaver owners and pilots.
In March 2004, Ford officially became chairman of the Young Eagles program of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Ford was asked to take the position by Greg Anderson, Senior Vice President of the EAA at the time, to replace General Charles "Chuck" Yeager who was vacating the post that he had held for many years. Ford at first was hesitant, but later accepted the offer and has made appearances with the Young Eagles at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh gathering at Oshkosh, Wisconsin for two years. In July 2005, at the gathering in Oshkosh Ford agreed to accept the position for another two years. Ford has flown over 280 children as part of the Young Eagles program, usually in his DHC-2 Beaver, which can seat the actor and five children. Ford is involved with the EAA chapter in Driggs, Idaho, just over the mountains from Jackson, Wyoming.
As of 2009, Ford appears in Web advertisements for General Aviation Serves America, a campaign by advocacy group AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association).
Ford is an Honorary Board Member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope.
He has also flown as an invited VIP with the Blue Angels.
In 1993, the arachnologist Norman Platnick named a new species of spider ''Calponia harrisonfordi'', and in 2002, the entomologist Edward O. Wilson named a new ant species ''Pheidole harrisonfordi'' (in recognition of Harrison's work as Vice Chairman of Conservation International).
Since 1992, Ford has lent his voice to a series of public service messages promoting environmental involvement for EarthShare, an American federation of environmental and conservation charities.
On September 7, 1995, Ford testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of the Dalai Lama and an independent Tibet, and was banned thereafter by the Chinese government from entering Tibet and China. In 2008, he narrated the documentary ''Dalai Lama Renaissance''.
In 2003, he publicly condemned the Iraq War and called for "regime change" in the United States. He also criticized Hollywood for making violent movies, and called for more gun control in the United States. He opposed the recall of Californian Governor Gray Davis, and stated in an interview that replacing Davis with Arnold Schwarzenegger would be a mistake.
In 2006, Ford was awarded the Jules Verne Spirit of Nature Award for his work in nature and wildlife preservation. The ceremony took place at the historic Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.
He received the first ever Hero Award for his many iconic roles, including Han Solo and Indiana Jones, at the 2007 Scream Awards, and in 2008, the Spike TV's Guy's Choice Award for Brass Balls.
Harrison Ford received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2000.
+ Film and television | |||
! Year | ! Title | ! Role | Notes |
1966 | ''Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round'' | Bellhop | uncredited |
1966 | ''The Long Ride Home'' | uncredited | |
1967 | Irate Motorist | uncredited | |
1967 | '''' | Lt. Shaffer | credited as Harrison J. Ford |
1967 | '''' | Cullen Tindall/Young Rancher | TV series, episodes: "A Bad Place to Die" and "The Modoc Kid" |
1967 | Tom Stowe | TV series, episode: "The Past is Prologue" | |
1968 | ''Journey to Shiloh'' | Willie Bill Bearden | |
1968 | '''' | Beach Patrol Cop | TV series, episode: "The Teeth of the Barracuda" |
1969 | ''My Friend Tony'' | TV series, episode: "The Hazing" | |
1969 | '''' | Glen Reverson/Everett Giles | TV series, episodes: "Caesar's Wife" and "Scapegoat" |
1969 | ''Love, American Style'' | Roger Crane | TV series, segment "Love and the Former Marriage" |
1970 | Airport Worker | uncredited | |
1970 | ''Getting Straight'' | Jake | |
1970 | '''' | Carl | TV movie |
1971 | ''Dan August'' | Hewett | TV series, episode: "The Manufactured Man" |
1972–1973 | ''Gunsmoke'' | Print/Hobey | TV series, episodes: "The Sodbuster" (1972) and "Whelan's Men" (1973) |
1973 | ''American Graffiti'' | Bob Falfa | |
1974 | Harrison | TV series, episode: "Crossties" | |
1974 | '''' | Martin Stett | |
1974 | ''Petrocelli'' | Tom Brannigan | TV series, episode: "Edge of Evil" |
1975 | Frank Crowder | TV movie | |
1976 | Mark Blackwood | TV movie | |
1977 | '''' | Paul Winjam | TV movie |
1977 | ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' | Han Solo | Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor |
1977 | Ken Boyd | ||
1978 | Lieutenant Colonel Mike Barnsby | ||
1978 | '''' | Han Solo | TV movie |
1979 | ''Apocalypse Now'' | Colonel Lucas | |
1979 | David Halloran | ||
1979 | '''' | Tommy Lillard | |
1979 | ''More American Graffiti'' | Bob Falfa | uncredited |
1980 | ''Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back'' | Han Solo | |
1981 | ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' | Indiana Jones | Saturn Award for Best Actor |
1982 | ''Blade Runner'' | Rick Deckard | |
1983 | ''Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi'' | Han Solo | |
1984 | ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' | Indiana Jones | Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor |
1985 | Det. Capt. John Book | Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorNominated—Academy Award for Best ActorNominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama | |
1986 | '''' | Allie Fox | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama |
1988 | Dr. Richard Walker | ||
1988 | ''Working Girl'' | Jack Trainer | |
1989 | ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' | Indiana Jones | Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor |
1990 | Rusty Sabich | ||
1991 | ''Regarding Henry'' | Henry Turner | |
1992 | |||
1993 | '''' | Indiana Jones — age 50 | TV series, episode: "Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues" |
1993 | '''' | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture DramaNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Performance - Male | |
1994 | Jack Ryan | ||
1995 | Linus Larabee | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | |
1997 | '''' | Tom O'Meara | |
1997 | President James Marshall | ||
1998 | ''Six Days Seven Nights'' | Quinn Harris | |
1999 | Sergeant William 'Dutch' Van Den Broeck | ||
2000 | ''What Lies Beneath'' | Dr. Norman Spencer | |
2002 | ''K-19: The Widowmaker'' | Alexei Vostrikov | |
2003 | ''Hollywood Homicide'' | Sgt. Joe Gavilan | |
2004 | ''Water to Wine'' | Jethro the Bus Driver | |
2006 | Jack Stanfield | ||
2008 | ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' | Indiana Jones | Nominated—National Movie Awards |
2008 | ''[[Dalai Lama Renaissance'' | Narrator | Theatrical documentary |
2009 | Max Brogan | ||
2009 | ''Brüno'' | Himself | Uncredited cameo |
2010 | ''Extraordinary Measures'' | Dr. Robert Stonehill | |
2010 | Mike Pomeroy | ||
2011 | Colonel Dolarhyde |
;Interviews
Category:1942 births Category:Actors from California Category:Actors from Chicago, Illinois Category:American aviators Category:American conservationists Category:American film actors Category:American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American television actors Category:California Democrats Category:Jewish actors Category:Living people Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:Personae non gratae
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