Drew Struzan, an iconic painter known for his poster art for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and much more, as well as book covers and collected editions through comic book publishers, has died at age 78. The news was reported on his official Instagram account.
The message reads: “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. 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 started his career back in the 1970s, illustrating album covers for everyone from The Beach Boys and Bee Gees, to Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper. Later, he would move on to movie posters, which would become his forte. In 1977, he was hired to create a poster design for the rerelease of Star Wars the next year, leading to the creation of his “Circus” poster design — which would become his signature.
Throughout the next several decades, Struzan would illustrate posters including Blade Runner, The Thing, Indiana Jones, The Goonies, and even Police Academy movies. While he’s most associated with Lucasfilm and Amblin era movies (particularly the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series, as well as Back to the Future), his unmistakable layout would influence pretty much every movie poster after, as other tried to reproduce the Struzan look.
Per the purview of this website, he also branched out into comic books, including covers for Action Comics, Daredevil, and of course, Star Wars.
In 2008, Struzan announced his retirement after the ad campaign for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but came out of retirement several times: once in 2012 for a cover for Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, twice in 2015 for the documentary Batkid Begins and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and finally in 2019 for the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy.
He was featured in the 2013 documentary Drew: The Man Behind the Poster, and in 2019 he illustrated A Bloody Business, a book written by his wife, Dylan Struzan.
Back in March, Struzan’s wife Dylan posted a lengthy update about his health on Facebook. You can read it below:
Good morning all. I’m Drew’s wife, Dylan Struzan. I come to you with a heavy heart. Several years ago, Drew was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. As you may know, the early stages are a slow progression of forgetfulness. This happens in the brain when the proteins in the neurons begin to fold improperly. They are called tau tangles. Neurotransmitters can no longer transmit a thought. Think of it as a log jam. Forgetfulness is often what we think of when this disease is mentioned, the brain malfunctioning. As the disease progresses, the hippocampus (seat of memory) begins to fail. Think of all the things you learned throughout life, simple things like how to stand (balance), how to walk, how to talk, how to control your bodily functions, how to make decisions, how to do most everything we do. The hippocampus forgets. It has been said this is the most vulnerable organ in the body. I can believe it.
Some doctors believe this disease is reversible. For years, Drew and I have used the protocols that are supposed to, at the very least, arrest the forward momentum of the disease to no avail. His body has continued to decline. He is “still in there” as they say. It seems that specialized brains have an advantage as their knowledge is part of the structure of the brain, not just an add-on stored in the brain. Nevertheless, the loss of coordination of moving the information from the brain to a functional expression short-changes abilities. Drew can no longer paint or sign things for you. He is not enjoying a well-deserved retirement but rather fighting for his life.
He hears all the comments you have left here on these pages. It encourages him. At first he was able to express his thoughts but as time progressed it became infinitely more difficult. I rely on our 60 years of marriage working as a team to remember for him. Jon, who posts many things here, relies on research in the many hours of interviews both written and filmed to fill in Drew’s thoughts. Drew has left a strong legacy of love and joy in the form of his work. It has always been a love letter of sorts. His aim was to make the earth a better place in which to live by creating something beautiful. But like a flower, his season is ending.
I and Jon will continue to curate Drew’s legacy. My vision here is to bring the creative community to the fore. That’s what our live streaming and videos are about. Many creatives sharing their craft with an insider vision of the job Drew was a master at juggling. I hope you spread the word that will help others enjoy true creativity. They call this the humanities because it is something unique to our species. Art is meant to be enjoyed. Drew always wanted his work to be uplifting. From your comments, I believe he has succeeded. It was always his mission to move art forward being deeply influenced by the great artist and his professor at Art Center, Lorser Feitelson who introduced him to Modernism, a period of artistic and literary experimentation that began in the 19th century. It sought to create new ways of expressing ideas. Drew was also influenced by the Impressionists, as you most likely see above all in his art, the vibrance of color. His drawing skills were informed by the likes of Michelangelo and Pontormo and those in the Italian Renaissance, Composition will always be foundational from Cézanne.
The love you send is received with appreciation and often tears of joy. Those of you who have been touched by his work are his legacy. Please keep sharing your thoughts and experiences. It keeps him smiling through these difficult days. Keep remembering for him. ~dylan
Comic Book Club Live Info:
Discover more from Comic Book Club
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
He retired from movies a long time ago, but he still made a lot of personal art. We will miss him.