American illustrator and painter Robert McGinnis has died at 99 years old, per Variety. A posting from the obituary site Legacy reveals he passed away on March 10.
Primarily, McGinnis is best known for creating the poster art to various James Bond films over the decades. Beginning with 1965’s Thunderball, he’d go on to create art for You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Live and Let Die, and the 1967 parody version of Casino Royale. His film career extends beyond the spy franchise: in total, he did over 40 movie posters, such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s (his debut assignment) Barbarella and three Matt Helm films. As he became more popular, “the McGinnis Woman” became a popular shorthand to describe the figure of bikini-clad women that were often paired with chiseled men of that era.
Born February 3, 1926, McGinnis is described by Legacy as “one of the most prolific illustrators of the 20th century.” Starting out in his career, he apprenticed at Walt Disney Studios and later took a job at Dell Publishing. There, he drew covers for paperback novels for various genres, from detective fiction to horror and fantasy. His work could also be seen in magazines such as National Geographic, TIME, and Reader’s Digest. In 2016, he started drawing retro covers for reissued Neil Gaiman books.
McGinnis is survived by his three children and their individual families.
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