Roger Kastel, the man behind the ‘Gone With The Wind‘ poster for The Empire Strikes Back as well as the iconic Jaws poster for Steven Spielberg has passed away age 91. With his distinctive style and flair, his work not only grabbed the attention of prospective cinemagoers but continued to delight them for many years afterwards. So powerful was his work on the Jaws novel cover, Universal purchased the rights to use it as the movie poster, making that poster the first to become a merchandising hit.
Roger Kastel, a native of White Plains, New York, began his art career while still in high school, commuting into Manhattan to study at the famed Arts Students League, where other notable alumni included Frederick Remington, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Winslow Homer.
After serving in the Navy during the Korean War, Roger returned home and became a professional artist doing freelance work for various studios, as well as ad agencies throughout New York. Eager to hone his craft, Roger, after putting in a full day’s work doing storyboards, mechanicals and layouts, continued his education by returning to the Arts Students League in the evenings. A large portion of his training came from one of the most respected teachers of his era, Frank Reilly, who had earlier been an apprentice to Dean Cornwell. Roger also studied with Edwin Dickinson, Sidney E. Dickinson and Robert Beverly Hale.
While still a student Roger had his first paperback book cover published in the 1960’s by Pocket Books (Simon Schuster). All told, Roger estimates that he has done over a 1,000 illustrations for various publishers. Also in the 1960’s, a painting of Roger’s won first prize from the National Fire Underwriters. This painting was made into a fire safety poster that was used for many years and had high visibility.
By the 1970’s Roger Kastel hit full stride as an artist, becoming one of the most well respected illustrators in the business, working for every major publishing house in New York.
If his work was not yet recognized globally that was about to change in a big way when he accepted the challenge of illustrating the paperback cover of Peter Benchley’s bestselling classic JAWS for Bantam Books. Universal Studios, so impressed by the work, purchased the right to use this image as the poster for the movie. This was the first time that a poster image became a merchandising product in itself. Forty years later Roger’s illustration is still as instantly recognized throughout the world as when it first exploded onto the scene.
Roger’s reputation as a top flight illustrator now made its way to Hollywood, and he was asked to paint the movie poster for George Lucas’ highly anticipated sequel to Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back. This poster also became an instant classic and is considered one of the most influential movie posters every produced.
The art world were quick to offer their tributes, including one of Kastel’s fellow movie poster greats, Drew Struzan.
We lost another creative brother … Roger Kastel who gave us the iconic “Jaws” poster among other wonderful pieces of art. It saddens me. Could the lesson be to appreciate all the more our living creatives? pic.twitter.com/I2p4lk5unP
— Boo! Struzan 🎨 (@DrewStruzan) November 15, 2023
Our condolences to Rogers family, friends and many fans.
- Hardcover Book
- Soule, Rosemary (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 48 Pages - 10/10/2023 (Publication Date) - Random House/Star Wars (Publisher)
