For Immediate
Release:
Contact: Robert
Patrick
800-660-7791
rpatrick@lje.com
John
Alvin
1948—2008
Irvine, CA—Craig
Kausen, President of Linda Jones Enterprises, Inc. announced today
that renowned movie poster artist, John Alvin, passed away
unexpectedly on Wednesday, February 6th.
He was 59.
Considered the
pre-eminent movie campaign artist of the past 35 years, Alvin’s
career began in 1974 with his creation of the iconic movie
poster for Mel Brook’s “Blazing Saddles”. He
most recently contributed design ideas for the campaign for Disney
Studio’s “Enchanted.” In a career that
encompassed multiple projects for such directors as Steven Spielberg,
George Lucas, Blake Edwards, Mel Brooks and Ridley Scott, Alvin was
considered by many studios as the go-to artist for movie poster and
campaign art. John Alvin said that his work “created the
promise of a great experience” and in that he never failed.
Alvin and his wife,
Andrea, had recently relocated to New York's Hudson Valley from Los
Angeles in order to be closer to their daughter and only child,
Farah, a Broadway actress. John Alvin said that as a
child he eagerly anticipated the arrival of the Sunday paper so that
he could peruse the ads for the new movies playing at the local
theaters. He was enamored with the magic of film at an early
age and would create art inspired largely by his love of film.
That passion led him to the Art Center College of Design where he met
his wife, Andrea (also a student at Art Center) from which he
graduated in the early 1970s.
His big break came with
the job to create the movie poster for Mel Brook’s “Blazing
Saddles” in 1974. This campaign led to Alvin creating the
images for numerous other Brook's films including "Young
Frankenstein". His prominence in this medium was soon after
established with his creation of the movie posters for Ridley
Scott’s “Blade Runner,” Steven Spielberg’s
“E.T.-The Extra-Terrestrial” and Blake Edward’s
“Victor/Victoria.” Not only did Alvin create the
movie posters for those particular films, but he also created many
subsequent iconic film posters. In all, Alvin created the
posters for over 135 movies in a 35 year career. He is considered to
be an innovator in this genre.
Alvin's work is
currently represented in several art galleries nationwide where his
original paintings, drawings and limited edition fine art
reproductions are displayed. In his recent work, he continued
to create iconic images for contemporary films like the Star Wars,
Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the
Caribbean series. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that
donations be made to the Food Bank Association of New York State, 235
Lark Street, Albany, NY 12210 or to your local Food Bank Association.