Following the death of renowned poster artist Drew Struzan on October 13, veteran directors Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro paid heartfelt tribute to the artist. The news of Struzan’s passing was announced on his official Instagram account, managed by his social media handler.
Star Wars and Indiana Jones poster artist Drew Struzan dead at 78
On October 14, Drew Struzan’s Instagram manager officially announced the artist’s death on the site. He shared an artwork featuring Struzan, accompanied by the news in the caption.
The caption read, “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. – Greg, IG manager.”
Struzan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease several years before his death. After the news of his death became public, both Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro paid tribute to the late artist.
Spielberg stated, “Drew made event art. 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.” (via The Hollywood Reporter)
Guillermo del Toro paid tribute to Struzman in a Bluesky post. He wrote, “The world lost a genial man, a genius communicator and a supreme artist. I lost a friend – beloved Drew.”
Drew Struzan famously collaborated with several popular directors, including Spielberg and del Toro. He designed iconic posters for their movies like Indiana Jones, Hellboy, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. He also created posters for other classic movies like Back to the Future, Blade Runner, The Shawshank Redemption, Harry Potter, and The Thing.
As well as making posters, Struzan designed the original logo for Industrial Light & Magic, the VFX studio founded by George Lucas. In 2008, Struzan announced his retirement. However, he came out of retirement on several occasions to design posters for Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and How to Train Your Dragon trilogy, among a few other projects.
Originally reported by Harsha Panduranga on ComingSoon.
