Gloria Katz was one of the few female screenwriters to make an impact during the 1970s, co-writing, with her husband, Willard Huyck, "American Graffiti" (1973), directed by George Lucas and based on events in his life growing up in a small California city. Katz and Huyck joined the long Hollywood tradition of husband-wife writing teams (Henry & Phoebe Ephron, Irving Ravetch & Harriet Frank, Jr., etc.), but as Katz moved into producing films Huyck directed, the results were less stellar. Katz was graduated from UCLA Film School, after which she went to work for Universal Pictures editing