Original 'Star Wars' poster artist appearing in Morris Plains
Greg Hildebrandt a resident of Lake Hopatcong
Lake Hopatcong artist Greg Hildebrandt — best known for the iconic movie poster for the very first “Star Wars” film — will greet fans on Saturday in Morris Plains, where Garden State Harley-Davidson will open its showroom for a special gallery event.
Hildebrandt, 77, will be selling a variety of prints from a long career, mostly working with his late twin brother, Tim, on movie posters, comic and pinup art and illustrated children’s books. The Hildebrandts also worked extensively in science fiction and fantasy-genre art, including a series of top-selling “Lord of the Rings” calendars for Ballantine Books.
The event will feature Hildebrandt finishing his latest painting on-site, while visitors also will be able to enter a contest to win a rare 15th anniversary poster of the “Star Wars: A New Hope” movie poster, originally released in 1977 and featuring art by the Brothers Hildebrandt. That rare lithograph was signed by both brothers. Tim Hildebrandt died in 2006.
“We worked around the clock on that one,” said Hildenbrandt, recalling a rushed assignment to create a new poster just before the dawn of the “Star Wars” franchise era because producer George Lucas did not like the original submission by another artist. They completed their deadline assignment in 36 hours.
“They gave us some 8-by-10 glossies and we completed the poster in 36 hours,” he said. “We didn’t even know who George Lucas was. We had shots of the droids, shots of the ships, the Death Star, Darth Vader’s head and all that stuff. They said don’t worry about the likenesses (of future stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher) because nobody knows who they are.”
Hildebrandt, a proud native of “Detroit, Michigan, Motor City,” described the unique process by which the Brothers Hildebrandt gained an international reputation for their work, starting out in the late 1950s animating story boards for the auto industry and U.S. Steel.
“Tim would sit on one side of the palette, and I would work on the other, and we would paint together,” he said. “We were twins, and we had done everything together since we were kids. We were one mind when it came to art. You could not make a distinction of who did what.”
Soon after completing the poster, their world changed.
“The film came out about a week after we had done this painting, and the world went crazy,” he said. “There was nothing like it. We got swept up into the mania, caught up in a whirlwind of publicity.”
In addition to Lucas Films, Hildebrandt also has worked for such clients as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Franklin Mint, Wizards of the Coast, Bat Films and Lucas Films. In 1999, he also began a series of 1940s-1950s-inspired pin-up paintings that he titled “American Beauties.” Hildebrandt lives in Lake Hopatcong with his wife and publicist and business manager, Jean Scrocco.
The event in Morris Plains runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, contact Garden State Harley-Davidson at 973-898-7100 or email randi@gardenstatehd.com.
Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-917-9242; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.