Drew Struzan, the iconic artist behind the movie posters for “Star Wars,” “Back to the Future” and so many more, has passed away. He was 78.
The renowned illustrator’s longtime collaborator, Greg Aronowitz, announced the devastating news in a message shared to Struzan’s Instagram account on Tuesday. No cause of death was given.
“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,” Aronowitz wrote. “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.”
Fans of the late artist rushed to the comments section to remember Struzan in the wake of his passing, while movie industry heavyweights like Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro spoke out to pay tribute.
“Drew made event art,” Spielberg wrote, per The Hollywood Reporter. “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.”
“In his own invented style, nobody drew like Drew,” the “Indiana Jones” director added.
“The world lost a genial man, a genius communicator and supreme artist,” del Toro shared. “I lost a friend — beloved Drew.”
Born in Oregon City, Oregon, in 1947, Struzan later enrolled at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, where he sold his artwork and other small commissions to pay tuition, according to Variety.
Struzan ultimately found a job in Los Angeles as a local artist for Pacific Eye & Ear, where he worked under artist Ernie Cefalu.
After designing album covers for musical artists like The Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, and Earth, Wind & Fire for between $150 and $250 per drawing, Struzan began working on promo movie posters in 1975.
However, it wasn’t until 1978 that Struzan was approached by fellow artist Charles White III, who himself had been hired by 20th Century Fox, to help create a new poster for the re-release of “Star Wars” that year.
While White focused on the mechanical details of the poster, Struzan reportedly painted the human characters in oil.
Following his work on “Star Wars,” Struzan went on to illustrate posters for other classics like “Blade Runner,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and “The Goonies.”
Although he announced his retirement in 2008 shortly after designing the poster for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” Struzan occasionally stepped out of retirement to help design posters for movies like “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015 and Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” two years later.
Struzan was also the subject of Erik Sharkey’s 2013 documentary “Drew: The Man Behind The Poster,” which examined the iconic artist’s work and life.
The project included interviews with many of the directors and movie stars Struzan collaborated with, including George Lucas, Spielberg and Harrison Ford.
“I felt that art was more than just telling the story,” the late illustrator told Slashfilm during a 2021 interview. “I’m looking to give a person a feeling about something they could hope for.”
“I asked the directors what they’re doing and why they were doing it,” he continued four years before his passing. “I try to find the best in what they are doing, then I paint that way.”
