OBITUARIES cargoshippingtimes 10/16/2025 0 Comments

Drew Strozan Dies: Poster Artist for Star Wars, Indiana Jones

Drew Strozan, the artist who created some of the most recognizable posters for movies including “Star Wars,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Blade Runner” and “Back to the Future,” has died. He was 78 years old.

Strozan died on Monday, according to a post on his official Instagram account on Tuesday. Dylan Strozan revealed in March that her husband had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease a few years ago.

“It is with a heavy heart that I have to tell you that Drew Strozan passed away yesterday, October 13th,” the statement read. “I feel it is important that you all know how many times he has expressed to me how pleased he was to know how much you appreciated his art.”

Strozan’s work has been a favorite among filmmakers including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Frank Darabont and Guillermo del Toro. In addition to posters for the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises, Strozan created posters for “ET: The Extra-Terrestrial” (1982), “The Goonies” (1985), “An American Tail” (1986), “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994), and “Sharon’s” (1994). (2001), “Hellboy” (2004), “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006), the animated “How to Train Your Dragon” movies and many more.

Three men in a frame with a poster on a terrace.

“Great among giants,” artist and DC Comics director Jim Lee wrote in a comment on a post announcing Strozan’s death. “His work captured the humanity, strength, and emotion of his subjects in ways not seen since. Thank you for bringing to life all the tent moments of my childhood and beyond.”

“Drew made the art of the episode,” Spielberg said in a statement to Deadline. “His posters have made many of our films iconic… and the memories of those films and the age we were in when we saw them always come back when we look at his iconic images.

Born in Oregon City in 1947, Strozan moved to Los Angeles to attend the Art Center College of Design. He began his career designing album covers for artists including The Beach Boys, The Bee Gees, Roy Orbison, Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper before he approached a film studio to try his hand at movie posters. His debut was for the 1975 George Segal comedy “The Blackbird.”

Strozan’s big break came when he was hired to do the re-release poster for the 1977 western A Certain Sky.

“Drew was an artist of the highest order,” Lucas said in a Lucasfilm tribute to Strozan. “His images perfectly captured the excitement, tone and soul of each of my films. His artwork represented. His creativity, through a single painted image, opened up a world full of life, even in a single glance. I was blessed to work with him time and time again.”

A man stands in front of three framed posters.

The praise was mutual.

“George [Lucas] Strozan said in a 2014 interview with The Times that he wanted to be a painter. “He loves photography. He wants to use pictures because they touch the heart, whereas photographs don’t do it for him. … I’ve worked with Steven Spielberg since ‘ET.’

The artist explained that making posters is a collaborative effort. For films including “Hook” (1991), Strozan read the script, visited the set and worked through the idea with Spielberg. For “Hellboy,” Del Toro visited Strozan at his home studio to discuss ideas.

“The world has lost a genius, a genius communicator and a great artist,” del Toro wrote in his tribute to Astrozan in Bluesky. “I lost a friend”

During his career, Strozan has collected accolades including the Thornton Award and the Inkpot Award. He was also inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame and was the subject of the 2013 documentary “Drew: The Man Behind the Poster.”

“You have to be able to watch a movie and understand what it’s about without hearing them because it’s a visual medium,” Strozan said in a 2017 interview with documentary director Eric Sharkey on HuffPost. “[Directors] Like Darabont, del Toro, Spielberg and Lucas…are artists. They try to show beauty, truth and goodness. And because they make such films, they remain in our hearts and minds. They tell us the best things about ourselves.