WASHINGTON: “Star Wars” creator George Lucas entered the pantheon of US cultural icons Sunday as he received a prestigious Kennedy Center Lifetime Artistic Achievement.

The man behind the saga in a galaxy far, far away received his prize at a gala event that also honored actresses Rita Moreno and Cicely Tyson, 1970s pop singer-songwriter Carole King and Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Seiji Ozawa.

“Star Wars” became one of the greatest successes in the history of Hollywood, even though many people — including Lucas himself — were convinced that the movie would flop.

Lucas, along with director Steven Spielberg, is also a co-creator of the “Indiana Jones” series of the adventure-seeking archaeologist.

Lucas’s films, especially the first “Star Wars” movie that came out in 1977, “changed movies absolutely for ever,” said Spielberg, who was at the event. Movies by Lucas and Spielberg, who often worked together, marked the birth of a new genre of popular science fiction movies with high-tech special effects.