Bill Gold

"Design is thinking made visual."

"You can't see through someone else's eyes."

Bill Gold was born on January 3, 1921, in New York City. He studied illustration and design at Pratt Institute in New York. He began his professional design career in 1941, in the advertising department of Warner Bros and 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 Gold operated in New York City. In 1987 Charlie left the business and retired to Vermont where he died on December 25, 2003 at the age of 75.

In 1962, Gold created Bill Gold Advertising in New York City. In 1997, Gold 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, he 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 Gold on behalf of The Hollywood Reporter and in 2011, Gold agreed to create posters for Clint Eastwood's film, J. Edgar.

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  was published in January, 2011 in coordination with Gold's 90th birthday.

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, 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:

-          Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

-          Casablanca (1942)

-          Strangers on a Train (1951)

-          Mister Roberts (1955)

-          Moby Dick (1956)

-          The James Dean Story (1957)

-          My Fair Lady (1964)

-          Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

-          Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

-          Camelot (1967)

-          Bullitt (1968)

-          Dorian Gray (1970)

-          Woodstock (1970)

-          Diamonds are Forever (1971)

-          The Exorcist (1973)

-          Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)

-          Old Curiosity Shop (1975)

-          Rooster Cogburn (1975)

-          The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)

-          The Hindenburg (1975)

-          Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

-          Fun with Dick and Jane (1977)

-          Greased Lightning (1977)

-          Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

-          Bloodbrothers (1978)

-          The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

-          Alien (1979)

-          Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

-          Those Lips, Those Eyes (1980)

-          Clash of the Titans (1981)

-          Honkytonk Man (1982)

-          Platoon (1986)

-          The Untouchables (1987)

-          Great Balls of Fire! (1989)

-          The Old Curiosity Shop (1995)

-          Space Cowboys (2001)

-          Mystic River (2003)

-          J. Edgar (2011)