R.I.P. Drew Struzan

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Born in 1947, Struzan was known for the many classic movie posters, novels, and album covers. He produced over 150 movie posters for franchises including Star Wars, Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Blade Runner, and Harry Potter. His career spanned decades, and he became well-known for his iconic illustrations. Struzan began his career in the 1970s and even illustrated album covers for Black Sabbath, The Beach Boys, and the Bee Gees.

He rose to fame due to his artwork for Star Wars and had a close working relationship with Lucasfilm. In 1977, he was hired to create a poster for the rerelease of Star Wars and created the legendary "circus" poster design, which became his signature style. His iconic layout influenced many movie posters that were released after.

In 2008, Struzan retired after his ad campaign for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. His love of art made him come out of retirement a few times for different projects, including Stephen King's The Dark Tower in 2012 and in 2019 for the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy.

His work and life were featured in a documentary titled Drew: The Man Behind the Poster, which included notable interviews from Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Harrison Ford, Guillermo del Toro, and Michael J. Fox. The documentary was directed and produced by Erik Sharkey.

Struzan was passionate about art and his love of movies, and stated, "I'm selling movies, yes. But if I can do it with art, with beauty, in a way that reaches people and touches them...that's what makes me happy." Struzan will be remembered by his wife, Drew, and his son, Christian, and all the fans who came to love and appreciate his memorable style.

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Drew Struzan, The Greatest Movie Poster Artist Of All Time, Has Died At 78

Born on March 18, 1947, in Oregon City, Oregon, Struzan exhibited a talent for fine art and illustration at an early age. He matriculated to the prestigious ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California in 1965, and quickly made a decision to pursue illustration as a career because it offered the cash-strapped Struzan, who'd married young and had a child to support, the best opportunity to make a living off his abundant talent. He chose wisely.

The money wasn't exactly rolling in during the early portion of Struzan's illustration career. Even though he was knocking out vividly imagined album covers for Carol King, Jefferson Airplane, and Alice Cooper (Rolling Stone once declared Struzan's art for Cooper's "Welcome to My Nightmare" to be one of the Top 100 Album Covers of All Time), the pay was paltry. It was right around this time that the deep-pocketed Hollywood studios came calling.

For an artist who vibed on the macabre and cosmic fantasies of 1970s music acts, Struzan was a natural fit for a Hollywood that was on the cusp of a massive paradigm shift toward gee-whiz epic sci-fi and cliffhanger-driven mega-adventures. Struzan got a foothold in the industry with some wonderfully gruesome posters for B-flicks like "Food of the Gods," "Empire of the Ants," and, best of all, "Squirm" (which also served as an early, grisly calling card for young makeup artist Rick Baker), but destiny was guiding him toward that universe that existed a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

When 20th Century Fox hired David Weitzner to illustrate the poster for the 1978 re-release of "Star Wars," the portraiture-challenged artist brought on Struzan to draw the human figures of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. That classic poster, which harkened back to the Buck Rogers serials that inspired George Lucas' space opera by presenting itself as the kind of torn posted bill you'd find slapped up on a wall in a big city, was an instant classic of the form. Nobody but the most dialed-in movie poster nerds of the time knew who was responsible for making it so special, but filmmakers and marketing departments clocked Struzan's talent. Everyone recognized that he was the best in the business. ...

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