Greg Hildebrandt, a respected artist and illustrator who created the original movie poster Star Wars and Clash of TitansDrawn Marvel characters and designed iconic 1970s calendars to celebrate Lord of the Rings Trilogy, dead. He is 85 years old.
Hildebrandt died in Danville, N.J., his son Greg Jr. told Hildebrandt. hollywood reporter. For the past five months, he had been dealing with serious side effects from his heart medication.
The artist, who frequently collaborated with his late twin brother Tim Hildebrandt, also drew covers for DC Comics and trading cards for the epic 1994 Marvel Masterpiece set; Dungeons and Dragons calendar; and designed the cover for the 1981 Black Sabbath album mob rules and many recordings from the Siberian Symphony Orchestra.
Unable to obtain film stills and publicity photos, and given a very tight deadline by 20th Century Fox, the brothers drew the “Style B” poster for the UK release of Style B. Star Wars (1977), Greg’s first wife Diana Stankoski served as Princess Leia’s model.
“It’s incredible that the first version of it (without the bot) was created in just 36 hours of feverish, non-stop effort!” Greg told Los Angeles Times 2010. We made these changes at the ad agency and it worked!
Tom Jung had produced a promotional poster for U.S. distribution, but executives thought it was too dark and asked the Hildebrandts to change it.
The Hildebrandt Brothers’ “Style B” poster released in the UK in 1977 Star Wars.
20th Century Fox Film Company.
Greg and Tim Hildebrandt were born in Detroit on January 23, 1939. Germaine is a housewife. They started drawing comic books when they were six years old.
“We have our own story to write,” Gregg said in a 2017 interview. “Thankfully, our mothers always instilled in us from an early age that imagination is the most valuable thing you have.”
They took six months of classes at the Meinzinger Art School in their hometown, began painting professionally in 1959, and worked at the Jam Handy Organization, an industrial film company in Detroit. There, they combined live action with animation to tell the story of a medical rescue ship featured in the award-winning film lifelong technology.
In 1963, the brothers moved to New York to work for Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, producing documentaries chronicling world hunger and creating artwork for Sheen’s weekly television series, life is worth living.
for tolkien Lord of the Rings In the trilogy of calendars published by Ballantine Books in 1976-78, “Tim would do some thumbnails and I would do some thumbnails, or we would do them together and bounce ideas off each other,” he explains. “Then we get the final drawing settings and composition. Then we take photos with the models and costumes. Then we do the final sketches.
“Tim might start one and I’ll start another final sketch. Then when it comes to the painting stage, we’ll actually sit on opposite sides—him on one side and me on the other—and we’ll be on the same page at the same time. Painting on painting.
After the success of their calendar, Star Wars and their poster for Ray Harryhausen Clash of Titans (1981), the brothers chose to work separately.
1981 poster Clash of Titansstarring Harry Hamlin and Judy Bowker.
Courtesy of MGM/Everett Collection
Greg illustrated his own 1984 book, Greg Hildebrandt’s Favorite Fairy Tales;for heavy metal magazine; and illustrated books such as “The Wizard of Oz,” “Aladdin,” “Robin Hood,” “Edgar Allan Poe,” “Peter Pan,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Dracula” and “Phantom of the Opera.”
In 1999, he began creating a series of 1940s-1950s-style poster paintings—think women in vintage clothing and backgrounds—that he called “American Beauties.”
After more than a decade of working independently, the brothers reunited and created the Marvel Masterpiece set of 158 cards depicting the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe. They remained together until Tim’s death in June 2006 at the age of 67.
Greg also drew characters such as “Deadpool”, “Captain America vs. Hitler”, “Black Panther”, and “Thor” for Marvel.
One of his biggest fans is Michael Jackson. He once spent two weeks with the singer at his Neverland ranch.
Hildebrandt’s last commercial painting will be published in the program of the Trans-Siberian Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming winter tour. Since 2003 he has been the exclusive artist for TSO album covers, tour shows and merchandise.
In addition to his son, survivors include his wife of 15 years and partner of 33 years, Jean Scrocco, who became his manager in 1979; his daughter, Mary; his daughter-in-law, Jean, and son-in-law David; his sister Jane; and his kittens Bonnie, Clyde, Katie and Charlie.
Hildebrandt “lived a creative life and was a consummate professional,” her family said in a statement. “Every job is treated with the same level of professionalism. Greg’s lifelong pursuit of ‘getting things done.’
Rhett Bartlett contributed to this report.
