Topic summary
Anakin Skywalker
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Darth Vader.
Anakin Skywalker
The films Swiss Family Robinson (1960) and Battle of the Bulge (1965) influenced the original Star Wars trilogy, but Lucas' publicist has denied that Anakin Skywalker was named after Ken Annakin, the director of those films. The original surname of Anakin and Luke was "Starkiller", and it remained in the script until a few months into filming Star Wars. It was dropped due to what Lucas called "unpleasant connotations" with Charles Manson, who became a "star killer" in 1969 when he murdered the well-known actress Sharon Tate. Lucas replaced the problematic name "Starkiller" with "Skywalker".