You might not have realized it, but Bill Gold probably shaped your first impression of Hollywood. The artist, who died on Sunday at the age of 97, got his start in the film industry after graduating from the Pratt Institute and landing a job designing posters for Warner Bros. His first movie was the 1942 James Cagney vehicle Yankee Doodle Dandy; his second was for a little film called Casablanca. Over the course of his career, Gold went on to create some of the most iconic movie posters of all time, working steadily across genres to create timeless images for A Clockwork Orange, The Exorcist, and more. He was also known for his collaborations with Clint Eastwood, designing posters for everything from Dirty Harry to Unforgiven to J. Edgar.
In the introduction to the 2010 book Bill Gold PosterWorks, per T.H.R., Eastwood neatly summed up the artists influence: “He respected the film, he respected the story, and he always respected what we were trying to accomplish. . . . The first image you have of many of your favorite films is probably a Bill Gold creation.”
Here are just a few of those iconic images.
Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Full ScreenPhotos:Bill Golds Movie Posters Were the Stuff of Hollywood DreamsYohana DestaYohana Desta is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.
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