Illustrator Robert McGinnis, 99, died on March 10. He is best known for his movie posters, including numerous James Bond and Matt Helm films, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Barbarella, Cotton Comes to Harlem, The Odd Couple, Semi-Tough, Barefoot in the Park, Sleeper, and many others. The Ohio farm boy got a job at Disney, then a much better deal doing (sometimes cheesy) paperback covers for Dell. Of this gig, McGinniss said, “I raised three kids on it. A lot of illustrators wouldn’t do them—they were considered cheap and low-grade. But I enjoyed doing them. I didn’t see anything demeaning about it.” He also did magazine illustrations, and even private portraits. McGinnis kept working in later years (“I don’t know what I would do if I ever stopped painting”), and his son Kyle licensed his older images.
Related Posts
