To celebrate Variety’s 115th anniversary, we went to the archives to see how some of Hollywood’s biggest stars first landed in the pages of our magazine. Read more from the archives here.

George Lucas entered the movie pantheon in 1977 with “Star Wars.” But long before that, Lucas was on the radar of people in the industry.

Variety first mentioned him on Jan. 9, 1968, when he was part of the third annual National Student Film Fest competition. There were 153 entries and 46 finalists, and Lucas scored an impressive three nominations, for “6-18-67” (“A Desert Poem”); the docu “The Emperor,” and, in the dramatic competition, the sci-fi short “Thx-1138 4Eb.” He won for “Thx.”

Francis Coppola (after a few esteemed films but before the mega-success of “The Godfather”) helped Lucas land a deal to make a 1971 feature version of “Thx” at Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. The film was an artful but...