‘Star Wars’ guru George Lucas adds Daytime Emmy to his laurels

This had to have been a first: A winner of the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award -- an elite group whose ranks include cinema luminaries such as Orson Welles, Elizabeth Taylor, John Ford, Meryl Streep, Henry Fonda, Barbara Stanwyck, Fred Astaire, Steven Spielberg and Mel Brooks -- walking on stage to accept a Daytime Emmy Award.

But there was George Lucas -- the creator of the “Star Wars� franchise, producer of the Indiana Jones franchise and Oscar-nominated writer-director of “American Graffiti� -- humbly standing Sunday evening before an audience of soap opera stars, game show producers and talk show hosts.

“Star Wars: The Clone Wars,� the 5-year-old computer-animated Cartoon Network series that Lucas created and oversees as executive producer, had just been announced as best special-class animated program in a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. Making the announcement: Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the first three “Star Wars� feature films.

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Lucas, 69, proudly noted, “This is my first Emmy.� He thanked the show’s producers, writers and actors -- “and all those poor souls that toil over their computers.�

Many in the audience were thrilled that Lucas was sitting among them -- a feeling that “The Price Is Right� executive producer Mike Richards expressed when he accepted the Emmy for best game show.

“First of all,� Richards said, “I just want to say it’s really cool to win an award in front of George Lucas -- because that’s never probably going to happen again.�

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