Artist and Illustrator Greg Hildebrandt died at the age of 85 on Halloween 2024. Greg was a celebrated pop-culture icon and one half of the famous “Brothers Hildebrandt” duo, along with his twin brother Tim. Their artwork was used to create iconic imagery for now-famous franchises like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and, Magic: The Gathering, but also some classic films, album covers, and some of the more iconic DC and Marvel Comics images that are still used today.
Greg Hildebrandt’s passing was confirmed by his wife and longtime colleague Jean Scrocco in a post that you can read below:
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“The light has gone out in my life. At 12:36 pm this afternoon the love of my life, my best friend and soulmate passed away. Greg was 85 years young. He was the sweetest man I ever knew. We worked together for 45 years. We lived together for 33 of those years. We had a beautiful life we were blessed. Greg has been fighting for 5 months to regain his ability to breathe after a serious side effect of a heart medication. He fought very hard to win this battle but in the end he was just too weak. He passed away peacefully in my arms. He knew he was safe and he was loved and he will be missed terribly. I cannot imagine my life without him. He was my guy, yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever. You are my heart and it is broken!”
The Brothers Hildebrandt were born in Detriot, Michigan in January of 1939. They attended the city’s famous Meinzinger Art School before beginning their professional painting careers at age 20, with ambitions to land jobs as animators for Walt Disney, having been influenced by Disney classics like Snow White, Pinocchio, and others. Their signature style was cemented in pop culture in the 1970s, through their work on Lord of the Rings‘ annual Tolkien Calendar releases.
The (1977) painting for their “Style B” poster for Star Wars: A New Hope became a breakout hit, depicting Luke Skywalker in the now-iconic pose of holding a lightsaber over his head, with Princess Leia at his feet and Darth Vader’s helmet framed above their head. However, after a lack of success developing their own fantasy novel project (Urshurak) following Star Wars, the Brothers Hildebrandt decided to pursue separate careers.
Greg Hildebrandt would go on to do cover artwork for magazines like Heavy Metal; books like the Merlin Trilogy, Robin Hood, Dracula, and Phantom of the Opera. Meanwhile, Tim worked on children’s books, some films (Secret of NIMH), Dungeons & Dragons calendars, and ads by companies like Levi’s and AT&T. Marvel creator Stan Lee would bring Greg and Tim back together to work on multiple Marvel projects in the 1990s, such as the “Marvel Masterpieces” artwork series.
Tim Hildebrandt passed away on June 11, 2006, at the age of 67. Greg Hildebrandt has two daughters and a son, from his first marriage to his first wife Diana F. Stankowski.
RIP Greg Hildebrandt, we offer condolences to his friends, colleagues, and family in their time of grieving.
