Charles Myers Lippincott Jr. (October 28, 1939 – May 19, 2020) was an author and marketer, best known for promoting and licensing the first part of the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' trilogy. Lippincott joined

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in December 10, 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is best known for creating and producing th ...

in 1975 as Vice President of Advertising, Publicity, Promotion & Merchandising. He also teamed up with

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

for a tie-in series which debuted ahead of the film's release. He was responsible for convincing

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

to trademark the film's content, allowing significant income from licensing and merchandising on such products as "action figures, comic books, lunchboxes, watches, and toy lightsabers". Lippincott promoted ''Star Wars'' directly to fans, going on promotional tours with such stars as

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, and the Joker (character), Joker in various animated DC Comics projects, starting with ''Batm ...

. He had a non-traditional approach to film publicity, including a panel discussion at

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

in 1976, and partnerships with popular television shows at the time including ''

The Richard Pryor Show ''The Richard Pryor Show'' is an American comedy variety show starring and created by Richard Pryor. It premiered on NBC on Tuesday, September 13, 1977, at 8 p.m. opposite ABC's ''Laverne & Shirley'' and ''Happy Days''. The show was produced ...

'' and '' The Donny & Marie Show''. In 1978, Lippincott moved on from Lucasfilm and did publicity for other films including '' Alien'' and ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' ...

''. He also produced movies such as ''

Night Life Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, Bar (establishment), bars, nightclubs, party, parties, live music, conc ...

'', as well as the comic book adaptation for ''

Judge Dredd Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of the British weekly anthology Comic book, comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977). He is the magazi ...

''.

Personal life

Lippincott was born in

Adams, Massachusetts Adams is a town in northern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 8,166 at the 2020 census. History Nathan Jones purchased the township of ...

and grew up in

Oswego, Illinois Oswego ( ) is a village in Kendall and Will counties, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 34,485. Oswego is the largest municipality in Kendall County. Part of the Chicago metropolitan area, it is an exurb of Chica ...

. He received a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, and then attended

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

with

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

. From there, he got an early job as a publicist at

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

, working on such movies as ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction dystopia media franchise that began with the Westworld (film), 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild West, Wild-West-th ...

'' and ''

Family Plot ''Family Plot'' is a 1976 American black comedy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in his final directing role. It was based on Victor Canning's 1972 novel '' The Rainbird Pattern'', which Ernest Lehman adapted for the screen. The f ...

''. He was married to Geraldine “Bumpy” Lippincott.

References

External links

From the Desk of Charles Lippincott
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lippincott, Charley 1939 births 2020 deaths Star Wars