Charley Lippincott

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 trilogy. Lippincott joined Lucasfilm in 1975 as Vice President of Advertising, Publicity, Promotion & Merchandising. He also teamed up with Marvel Comics for a tie-in series which debuted ahead of the film's release.

Lippincott promoted Star Wars directly to fans, going on promotional tours with such stars as Mark Hamill. He had a non-traditional approach to film publicity, including a panel discussion at San Diego Comic-Con in 1976, and partnerships with popular television shows at the time including The Richard Pryor Show and The Donny & Marie Show.

In 1978, Lippincott moved on from Lucasfilm and did publicity for other films including Alien and Flash Gordon. He also produced movies such as Night Life, as well as the comic book adaptation for Judge Dredd. From there, he got an early job as a publicist at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, working on such movies as Westworld and Family Plot. He was married to Geraldine “Bumpy” Lippincott.