It may come as more of a surprise that though Star Wars's creator, George Lucas, is a self-described Buddhist Methodist, its original producer, Gary Kurtz (who passed away in 2018 at age 78), was a practicing Latter-day Saint. And despite lacking the name recognition of Lucas, Kurtz is a film legend in his own right. He produced American Graffiti in 1973, Star Wars and its sequel The Empire Strikes Back in 1977 and 1980, The Dark Crystal in 1982, and Return to Oz in 1985. For his work on Star Wars and American Graffiti, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.