The creator of the Back to the Future and Star Wars posters is dead

Drew Struzan was a well-known artist in Hollywood. He was 78 years old.

You’ve probably had many of his works hanging above your bed.

Drew Struzan, legendary poster illustrator Star Warsbut also Indiana Jones and especially that of Back to the future – with Marty looking at his watch – died at 78.

The announcement of his death was made on Monday on his official networks: “It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that Drew Struzan has left this world. He wanted you to know how happy he was to know how much you loved his art.” The cause of his death has not been specified.

Last March, his wife Dylan Struzan revealed that the artist had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for several years. “Drew leaves behind a legacy of love and joy through his work,” she wrote. “Each poster was like a love letter. He wanted to make the world more beautiful. But, like a flower, its season is coming to an end.”

Born in 1947 in Oregon, Struzan studied at the ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles before starting his career in the 1970s as an illustrator for the Pacific Eye & Ear studio, where he designed several cult album covers (Alice Cooper, the Bee Gees, Roy Orbison, etc.).

It was in 1975 that he began creating movie posters, first for B series (Squirm, Empire of the Ants), before experiencing world glory with the Star Wars by George Lucas — whose reissue he illustrated in 1978 alongside Charles White III. His style, recognizable among thousands, is distinguished by the masterful use of the airbrush, giving his compositions this warm and timeless light which has become his signature.

Struzan then collaborated on numerous films produced by Lucas and Steven Spielberg, including the posters for AND And The Goonies. We also owe him posters that have become iconic Blade Runnerof Risky Business or more recently Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Creator of the Industrial Light & Magic logo, he forever marked the imagination of cinema in the 80s and 90s. Retired for several years, he returned occasionally for a few exceptional commissions, notably for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015.