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John Alvin

John Alvin is one of the foremost artists of movie poster art, creating illustrated artwork that anchored the advertising campaigns of many hit films for over 30 years. A 1971 graduate of Art Center College of Design, Alvin was invited by a friend to submit a movie poster for Mel Brooks' '74 comedy "Blazing Saddles." Alvin's poster would be used for the film's ad campaign, and he would go on to design the posters for 135 films, including most of Mel Brooks' hits, many of Disney's animated features, and films of every genre, his illustrating style lending itself most memorably to fantasy and sci-fi films of the '80s. Among his most recognizable work is the image of the human and alien fingers touching for the "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" poster (based on Michelangelo's painting "The Creation of Adam") and the image of a sweaty Harrison Ford amongst the luminescent cityscape depicted in the poster for "Blade Runner." In the '90s, he would work extensively for Disney Studios, designing posters for animated films like "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin" and live action features like their '93 version of "The Three Musketeers." In later years, Alvin began creating and selling exclusive art based on film images. He died unexpectedly of a heart attack in '08 and is remembered, along with Richard Amsel and Bob Peak, as one of the foremost talents in his craft.