‘Star Wars,’ ‘Blade Runner,’ and ‘The Thing’ poster artist Drew Struzan dies at 78

When considering some of the most recognizable Hollywood movie posters over the decades, no greater name comes to mind than artist Drew Struzan, so it is with great sadness that we deliver news of his death on Monday, Oct. 13, at the age of 78.

We all grew up with Struzan’s striking advertising concoctions for our favorite sci-fi, fantasy, and horror flicks. He brought a new level of artistic achievement with his bold collage one-sheets for the 1997 remastered “Star Wars” Special Editions, and earlier works like the official posters for Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” and John Carpenter’s “The Thing.”

“It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that Drew Struzan has moved on from this world as of yesterday, October 13th,” close friend and collaborator Greg Aronowitz announced on his Instagram account. “I feel it is important that you all know how many times he expressed to me the joy he felt knowing how much you appreciated his art.”

The Oregon native attended Pasadena’s ArtCenter College of Design in the late ’60s before getting a job at Pacific Eye & Ear in Los Angeles, where he began designing album covers for Earth, Wind, and Fire, Black Sabbath, The Beach Boys, and The Bee Gees.

His first gig for the galaxy far, far away came in 1977 for the 1978 re-release of “Star Wars.” Struzan partnered with artist Charles White III for 20th Century Fox to create the old-fashioned one-sheet that perfectly captures the spirit of classic Saturday matinee serials.

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A stellar career conjuring up hand-painted film posters followed.

Amid the acclaimed artist’s prolific portfolio was advertising art for films like Steven Spielberg’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” Robert Zemeckis’s “Back to the Future,” Richard Donner’s “The Goonies,” John Carpenter’s “Big Trouble in Little China,” George Lucas’s “Star Wars” Prequel Trilogy, and many, many more.

“Drew made event art. His posters made many of our movies into destinations … and the memory of those movies and the age we were when we saw them always comes flashing back just by glancing at his iconic photorealistic imagery,” wrote Spielberg on Struzan’s death.

“In his own invented style, nobody drew like Drew.”