- Bill Gold
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Bill Gold Born January 3, 1921
New York City, New York, USAOther names William Gold Occupation Graphic designer Years active 1941 — 2011 Bill Gold (born January 3, 1921) is an American graphic designer best known for thousands of movie poster designs.
His first film poster was for Yankee Doodle Dandy (1941), and his most recent work was for J. Edgar (2011).
During his 70-year career he has worked with some of Hollywood's greatest filmmakers, including Clint Eastwood, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Elia Kazan, Ridley Scott, and many more. Among his most famous film posters are those for Casablanca, A Clockwork Orange, and The Sting.[1]
Contents
Early career
Bill Gold was born on January 3, 1921, in New York City. He studied illustration and design at Pratt Institute in New York.[2] He began his professional design career in 1941, in the advertising department of Warner Bros. Bill Gold became head of poster design in 1947. In 1959 his brother Charlie joined him in the business and they formed BG Charles to do the film trailers. Charlie operated BG Charles in Los Angeles, while Bill operated in New York City. In 1987 Charlie left the business and retired to Vermont. Charlie Gold died on December 25, 2003 at the age of 75. Bill Gold lives in the New York region.
Bill Gold Advertising
In 1962, Bill Gold created Bill Gold Advertising in New York City. In 1997 Bill moved the company to Stamford, Connecticut and continued his business, producing posters for every film Clint Eastwood produced, directed, and/or acted in, among others. In 1994 Bill was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Hollywood Reporter. Richard Benjamin was the MC for the ceremony at the Directors Guild, and Clint Eastwood presented the award to Bill Gold on behalf of The Hollywood Reporter. In 2011, Bill ended an unsuccessful retirement when he agreed to create posters for Clint Eastwood's film, J. Edgar.
Bill Gold is currently an active member of the Society of Illustrators, the Art Directors Club and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A limited-edition, oversized one-volume retrospective [3] was published in January, 2011 in coordination with Gold's 90th birthday.
The movie posters
All of Gold's posters have had a distinctive style. Each poster gave a film its unique identity, often creating the only lasting impression of a film that many would get. Gold's ever-changing style reflected a wide range of current tastes, trends, and approaches, yet never strayed from the tried-and-true basics of film promotion. Together, Bill Gold's poster art represents many of the most important American films since the advent of color photography. After his first film project, Yankee Doodle Dandy, he collaborated with the American film industry's top film directors and film producers. Especially fruitful was Gold's relationship with the illustrator Bob Peak. Gold's work has spanned eight decades and has inspired numerous other designers.
The following are some of Bill Gold's better-known posters:
1940s
- Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
- Casablanca (1942)
- Night and Day (1946)
- The Big Sleep (1946)
- Escape Me Never (1947)
- Winter Meeting (1948)
1950s
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
- Strangers on a Train (1951)
- Dial M for Murder (1954)
- The Silver Chalice (1954)
- East of Eden (1955)
- Mister Roberts (1955)
- Baby Doll (1955)
- Giant (1956)
- Lone Ranger (1956)
- Moby Dick (1956)
- The Searchers (1956)
- The Wrong Man (1956)
- A Face in the Crowd (1957)
- The James Dean Story (1957)
- The Pajama Game (1957)
- The Prince and the Showgirl (1957)
- Top Secret Affair (1957)
- The Old Man and the Sea (1958)
1960s
- Splendor in the Grass (1961)
- Gypsy (1962)
- The Music Man (1962)
- My Fair Lady (1964)
- Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)
- Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
- The Great Race (1965)
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
- Camelot (1967)
- Cool Hand Luke (1967)
- The Fox (1967)
- Wait Until Dark (1967)
- Bullitt (1968)
- Funny Girl (1968)
- A Dream of Kings (1969)
- The Illustrated Man (1969)
1970s
1980s
1990s
- Any Which Way You Can (1980)
- White Hunter Black Heart (1990)
- Reversal of Fortune (1990)
- Funny About Love (1990)
- State of Grace (1990)
- The Field (1990)
- The Rookie (1990)
- FX2 (1991)
- Unforgiven (1992)
- In the Line of Fire (1993)
- A Perfect World (1993)
- The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
- The Stars Fell on Henrietta (1995)
- The Old Curiosity Shop (1995)
- Absolute Power (1997)
- True Crime (1999)
2000s
- Space Cowboys (2001)
- Mystic River (2003)
2010s
- J. Edgar (2011)
Collaborating directors
Collaborating producers
- Samuel Z. Arkoff
- Walter Hill
- Ray Harryhausen
- Richard D. Zanuck
- Andrew Lazar
- Robert Lorenz
- Jay Presson Allen
- Tom Rooker
- David Valdes
- Bob Daley
- Jon Kilik
Best Picture Winners
- Casablanca (1942)
- My Fair Lady (1964)
- The Sting (1973)
- Ordinary People (1980)
- Platoon (1986)
- Unforgiven (1992)
Quotes
- "Design is thinking made visual."
- "You can't see through someone else's eyes."
References
- ^ "Bill Gold". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/constantin-bjerke/bill-gold-posterworks-vid_b_787371.html. Retrieved 01 December 2010.
- ^ "About Bill". go4thegolds. http://web.mac.com/go4thegolds/50years/About_Bill.html. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "Bill Gold". ReelArt Press. http://reelartpress.com/catalog/edition/28/bill-gold-posterworks. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
External links
Categories:- 1921 births
- American graphic designers
- Film poster artists
- Graphic designers
- Film and television title designers
- People from New York City
- Living people
- Pratt Institute alumni
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