Never to Be Matched: McGinnis Is Gone

(Above) The Case of the Duplicate Daughter, by Erle Stanley Gardner (Pocket, 1962). Cover illustration by Robert McGinnis.

Art Scott, co-author of the gorgeous 2014 book The Art of Robert E. McGinnis, brought me the sad news today that McGinnis—who became famous by painting covers for paperback books and posters for Hollywood films—died in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, on March 10. That was just a month after I posted on this page my latest tribute to him, tied to his 99th birthday.

Here is an excerpt from McGinnis’ obituary, written by two of his children and posted at the online memorial site Legacy.com:

Bob was one of the most prolific illustrators of the 20th century. It’s likely you have seen one or more of his artwork images somewhere. They appeared in magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic, Good Housekeeping, McCall’s, Reader’s Digest and Guideposts; on very many book covers (especially paperback books, spanning many genres, from Detective to Mystery to Gothic to Historical Fiction to Romance to Fantasy); in the form of personal-project paintings that included many Old West scenes; and also on movie posters for culturally significant movies (and also on soundtrack album covers). In our biased opinion, Bob was the very best of the James Bond/007 artists, having created exciting images for the posters for movies such as Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, Casino Royale (parody movie), and Live and Let Die. In 1993, Bob was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame. This was a tremendous honor for Bob. He said he had to have three drinks before walking up to the podium to deliver his acceptance speech; he was a shy and unpretentious person.

Born in Cincinnati on February 3, 1926, Bob never allowed the limited vision in one of his eyes to slow him down: playing as number 74, left tackle, on the Ohio State University undefeated team of 1944, working as a teenage apprentice at Walt Disney Studios (he met Walt), and serving on boats in the Merchant Marines right before WWII ended. He was a man’s man. Among other things, he loved fishing with friends and his son, socializing with other artists and cartoonists and writers (he was friends with some of the top illustrators and gallery artists of his generation), and playing poker with a group of friends. He reveled in being surrounded by nature, whether it was as a kid roaming the fields of his grandparents’ farm in Oxford, Ohio, or later paddling a canoe on Ahmic Lake in Ontario, or fishing amid the Catskill Mountains, or jogging around Tod’s Point with his dog, Nellie.

Much is written about Bob, in books and magazines and online, regarding his massive talent and output. He was an active, competitive and innately hard-working person, and, most of all, he loved to draw and paint. His drive to succeed and his endurance at the easel enabled him to leave behind a body of work that will never be matched. …

Remember Bob the next time Ohio State beats Michigan in football. Or when you see the Breakfast at Tiffany’s movie poster image of Audrey Hepburn with a cat perched on her shoulder. Our father created that!

This is so sad. I was hoping Robert McGinnis would be around to celebrate the centenary of his birth next February. That is not to be. Fortunately, he left behind a profusion of outstanding artworks, some more of which I am likely to post here next week. Stay tuned.

READ MORE: “Robert McGinnis (1926-2025),” by Matthew Field (MI6).