Greg Hildebrandt dead at 85: He was best known for being a Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Marvel artist
According to reports, he had been dealing with a serious side effect from a heart medication for the last few months.
Greg Hildebrant, who often worked alongside his late twin brother, Tim Hildebrant, drew Marvel characters and created movie posters for the original Star Wars and Clash of the Titans. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Without having access to film stills and publicity photos and given a very tight deadline by 20th Century Fox, the brothers painted the “Style B” poster for the U.K. release of Star Wars (1977), with Greg’s first wife, Diana Stankowski, serving as the model for Princess Leia.”
Greg Hildebrandt was interviewed along with his late brother Tim by Rebel Force Radio about creating the poster for Star Wars. “It was done in 36 hours,” he revealed. He was also interviewed by the Huffington Post where he discussed when he and his brother started drawing and said: “My brother Tim and I had the obsession to draw at a very early age. I remember my mom telling me that Tim and I used to stay in the lines of the coloring books. That was kind of a significant thing you know. That we just didn't scribble all over the thing. That we were very precise.”
Marvelman901 paid tribute to Greg on Instagram and wrote: “Just found out that Greg Hildebrandt has passed away (October 31). He was an amazing artist, I always enjoyed his art.”
Greg also said that “We were keeping the colors precise and stayed in the regions as indicated. And that we had the ability to stick with stuff for long periods of time, which is a crucial thing in the art we ended up doing. To stay with it and not get bored and go off and do something else.”
When it came to doing the artwork for the Lord of the Rings calendar, Greg revealed that he and his brother were the only ‘professionals' that showed up. Can you imagine that happening today?”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “One of his biggest fans was Michael Jackson; he once spent two weeks with the singer at his Neverland Ranch.”
Greg is survived by his wife Jean Scrocco, sister Jane, a son, daughter Mary, daughter-in-law Jane and son-in-law David.