Drew Struzan, the artist behind posters for “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones,” “Back to the Future” and more, has died. He was 78.
His cause of death was complications from Alzheimer’s disease, his family said in a statement.
“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,” a post on his official Instagram reads. “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.”
Struzan attended ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. before working at design studio Pacific Eye & Ear in Los Angeles in the early 1970s where he did album covers for artists like The Beach Boys, Bee Gees, Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath.
He then started his own company called Pencil Pushers, where he started designing posters for B-movies. He broke through when he was asked by 20th Century Fox to design a poster for a theatrical re-release of “Star Wars,” which kicked off his decades as Hollywood’s “one-sheet wonder.”
He went on to design posters for other hits like “The Muppet Movie,” “Blade Runner,” “The Thing,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Coming to America,” “The Goonies” and many others, including the first four entries in the “Indiana Jones” franchise.
“I had to almost live up to the art that we later were going to ask Drew to create for the poster,” director and frequent collaborator Steven Spielberg told LA Magazine in a 2014 story about Struzan.
The artist also designed the original logo for George Lucas’ special effects studio Industrial Light & Magic.
He officially retired in 2008 after designing the poster for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” but occasionally did posters for one-off events or re-releases.
Struzan’s wife, Dylan, revealed earlier this year that his Alzheimer’s meant he could no longer paint or sign posters for fans.
Struzan is survived by his spouse, son Christian and grandchildren.
