June

1 June

Gareth Edwards born 1975
In 1975, Gareth Edwards is born on this day in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. As well as directing Rogue One Gareth is recogised as an accomplished producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, production designer and visual effects artist.

2 June

UK release of Return of the Jedi (1983)
Today in 1983, 8 days after the US, Return of the Jedi opens in UK cinemas. The movie was to be called Revenge of the Jedi, but George Lucas decided against it just days before release, selling unused posters to Star Wars fan club members for $9.50.

3 June

John Dykstra born (1947)
John Dykstra was born today in 1947. He led development at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) of the computer controlled motion capture camera system, Dykstraflex, responsible for many of the groundbreaking effects seen in Star Wars (Ep IV).

4 June

Josef Rubenstein born (1958)
In 1958, Josef Rubinstein was born this day. He is a successful comic book artist and inker who has worked on a number of Marvel, DC and Darkhorse titles. He did the cover for the last two issues of the original Marvel Star Wars series of comics.

5 June

Kathleen Kennedy born (1953)
Today in 1953, President of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, is born in Berkeley, California. Under her leadership we have seen a return to the Skywalker Saga as well as standalone movies Rogue One & Solo and TV shows Rebels & Resistance.

6 June

Daniel Logan born (2087)
In 1987, in Auckland, New Zealand, Daniel Logan is born today. At the age of 14 he portrayed a young Boba Fett in the movie Attack of the Clones. This is a role he continued to play in the successful TV show The Clone Wars.

Other events on this day...
Jason Isaacs born (1963)

7 June

David Filoni born (1974)
Pennsylvania native Dave Filoni is born on this day in 1974. Dave first worked on Avatar: The Last Airbender for Nickelodeon, He has directed The Clone Wars, was executive producer on Rebels and is overseer of all Lucasfilm animation projects.

Other events on this day...
Liam Neeson born (1952)
Christopher Lee died (2015)

8 June

Twins Paul and Stephen Youll born (1965)
In 1965 twin brothers Paul and Stephen Youll are born on this day in Hartlepool in the UK. Both brothers are talented artists and illustrators who have built reputations for drawing science fiction and fantasy scenes used as cover illustrations.

9 June

Natalie Portman born (1981)
On this day in 1981 Natalie Portman was born in Jeruselem, Israel. In 1999, while still in high school, she played Padmé Amidala in Ep1 (The Phantom Menace), again in 2002 in Ep2 whilst studying at Harvard University, and finally in Ep3 in 2005.

10 June

Ben Daniels born (1964)
In 1964, in Nuneaton UK, Ben Daniels was born this day. In 2016 he portrayed General Antoc Merrick in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. At the Battle of Scarif Merrick flew a T-65B X-wing starfighter as leader of Blue Squadron, was shot down and killed.

11 June

John Wayne died (1979)
John Wayne died this day in 1979. He provided the voice of Imperial spy Garindan in Star Wars: Ep4 A New Hope via stock audio, making this his last role in a film before his death.

12 June

Claudia Gray born (1970)
Claudia Gray was born on this day in 1970 in New York, US. Her real name is Amy Vincent but writes under the pseudonym Gray. She wrote the Star Wars novels: Lost Stars, Bloodline, Leia, Princess of Alderaan and Master and Apprentice.

13 June

Ralph McQuarrie born (1929)
On this day in 1929 Ralph McQuarrie was born in Gary, Indiana. Ralph's concept paintings helped Lucas win approval from 20th Century Fox; armed with illustrations of his ideas, Lucas was able to convince Fox executives to take a gamble.

14 June

Steve Sansweet born (1945)
Steve Sansweet was born today in 1945 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Until 2011, he was Director of Content Management & Head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm Ltd before establishing Rancho Obi-Wan, the world's largest Star Wars memorabilia museum.