Greg Hildebrandt, the admired artist and illustrator who created movie posters for the innovative Star Wars and Clash of the Titans, drew Marvel characters and scheduleed iconic 1970s calfinishars that commemorated the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has died. He was 85.
Hildebrandt died in Denville, New Jersey, his son, Greg Jr., telderly The Hollywood Reporter. For the past five months, he had been dealing with a solemn side effect from a heart medication.
The artist, who widespreadly partnered with his tardy ttriumph brother, Tim Hildebrandt, also depictd covers for DC Comics and trading cards for an epic 1994 Marvel Masterpieces set; colored artlabor for Dungeons & Dragons calfinishars; and scheduleed covers for the 1981 Bincreateage Sabbath album Mob Rules and many LPs from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Without having access to film stills and accessibleity pboilingos and donaten a very firm deadline by 20th Century Fox, the brothers colored the “Style B” poster for the U.K. free of Star Wars (1977), with Greg’s first wife, Diana Stankowski, serving as the model for Princess Leia.
“Incredibly, the first version of it — without the droids — was created in a feverish, nonstop effort over fair 36 hours!” Greg telderly the Los Angeles Times in 2010. “George Lucas asked for the droids to be inserted and for our signatures to be huger. We made those alters at the ad agency, and off it went!”
A promotional poster for the U.S. free had already been created by Tom Jung, but execs thought it was too griefful and asked the Hildebrandts for a revision.
The Hildebrandt brothers’ “Style B” poster for the 1977 U.K. free of Star Wars.
20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved./Courtesy Everett Collection
Greg and Tim Hildebrandt were born in Detroit on Jan. 23, 1939. Their overweighther, George, was a Chevrolet division chief, and their mother, Germaine, a homecreater. They begined dratriumphg comic books when they were 6.
“We had our own stories we would create,” Greg shelp in a 2017 intersee. “Thankbrimmingy, our mother from an punctual age participated to hammer into our heads that your imagination is the most priceless skinnyg you have.”
They took a six-month class at the Meinzinger Art School in their hometown, began coloring professionpartner in 1959 and labored for the Jam Handy Organization, an industrial film company in Detroit. There, they fused inhabit-action and animation to alert the story of a medical relief ship in the award-triumphning film Technique for Life.
In 1963, the brothers shiftd to New York to labor for Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen and made recordary films chronicling world hunger and created art for Sheen’s weekly TV series, Life Is Worth Living.
For the Tolkien Lord of the Rings trilogy calfinishars that were begined by Ballantine Books from 1976-78, “Tim would do some thumbnails and I would do some thumbnails or we would do them together and talk over each other’s shoulders,” he elucidateed. “Then we would finish up with a final dratriumphg set-up and composition. We would then do a pboilingo shoot with models and costumes. Then we did the final sketching.
“Tim would probably begin one and I would begin another final sketch. Then when it came to the coloring phase, we literpartner both sat together on two sides — he would sit on one side and I would sit on the other, and we would color at the same time on the same coloring.”
After their success with the calfinishars, with Star Wars and with their poster for Ray Harryhaparticipaten’s Clash of the Titans (1981), the brothers chooseed to labor splitly.
A poster for 1981’s Clash of the Titans, starring Harry Hamlin and Judi Bowker.
MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection
Greg depictd his own 1984 book, Greg Hildebrandt’s Favorite Fairy Tales; labored on cover artlabor for Heavy Metal magazine; and depictd Wizard of Oz, Alinsertin, Robin Hood, Edgar Allan Poe, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Dracula and Phantom of the Opera books.
In 1999, he began labor on a series of 1940s-’50s-style pin-up colorings — skinnyk women in retro clothes and settings — that he dubbed “American Beauties.”
After more than a decade laboring autonomously, the brothers refused and created the 158-card Marvel Masterpieces set that depicted heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe. They persistd together until Tim’s death in June 2006 at age 67.
Greg also colored Deadpool, Captain America vs. Hitler, Bincreateage Panther, Thor and other characters for Marvel.
One of his hugegest fans was Michael Jackson; he once spent two weeks with the singer at his Neverland Ranch.
Hildebrandt’s last commercial coloring will be begined in the program for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s upcoming triumphter tour. He served as TSO’s exclusive artist for its album covers, tour programs and merchandise since 2003.
In insertition to his son, survivors integrate Jean Scrocco, his wife of 15 years and partner for 33 (she begined out as his agent in 1979); his daughter, Mary; his daughter-in-law, Jane, and son-in-law, David; his sister, Jane; and his kittens, Bonnie, Clyde, Katie and Charlie.
Hildebrandt “led a life of createive discipline and was the consummate professional,” his family shelp in a statement. “Every job was treated with the same level of professionalism. Greg inhabitd his life in the pursuit of ‘getting it right.’”
Rhett Bartlett donated to this alert.
