Chris Achilleos (1947-2021)

Artist Chris Achilleos, 74, died December 6, 2021. The prolific illustrator was known for his cover art, film designs, movie posters, and album covers, among other work.

Christos Achilléos was born in 1947 in Famagusta, Cyprus. At age 12 he moved to the UK, where he attended the Hornsey College of Art, graduating in 1969. He got his start painting book covers, including for Edgar Rice Burroughs novels and Doctor Who tie-ins, and later illustrated books for numerous SF and fantasy authors, as well as Star Trek novels. He rose to prominence as an illustrator for his erotic paintings in Mayfair starting in the early ’70s, and his first collection, Beauty and the Beast (1978), featured such images. In the late ’70s and ’80s he began illustrating games and album covers and doing design work for films, including Heavy Metal (1980) and Willow (1986), plus movie posters for features, among them Blade Runner (1982) and Supergirl (1984).

Some of his art was collected in Sirens (1986), Medusa (1988), Amazona (2004), and Kklak!: The Doctor Who Art of Chris Achilleos (2021). He also produced series of fantasy trading cards and sold original paintings.

For more, see his entry in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

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