Greg Hildebrandt (1939-2024)
Artist Greg Hildebrandt, 85, died October 31, 2024.
He frequently collaborated with his identical twin brother Tim (1939-2006) as “The Brothers Hildebrandt,” achieving fame for their illustrations of works by J.R.R. Tolkien, frequently featured in calendars. They also illustrated a 1975 edition of Tolkien’s Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham.
Gregory J. Hildebrandt was born January 23, 1939 in Detroit MI. Both Hildebrandts joined the Army Reserve after high school, then attended art school briefly before dropping out to become working artists. They worked on animated and documentary films and illustrated children’s books before moving to their popular calendar work in the 1970s. The success of those projects led them to thriving careers as cover artists, illustrating works by Terry Brooks, Lester del Rey, Anne McCaffrey, and more. They also painted movie posters, including for Star Wars and the 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings. Their illustrated novel Urshurak (1979), co-written with Jerry Nichols, showcased their own ideas for a fantasy film.
The brothers began to pursue separate careers in the 1980s, with Greg mostly illustrating children’s books, before collaborating again in the 1990s for Marvel and DC comics and more cover art. After Tim’s death in 2006, Greg largely retired from making art.
Some of his work is collected in The Art of the Brothers Hildebrandt (1979), Hildebrandt Collector Cards (1992), 30 Years of Magic: Greg Hildebrandt II (1993), Star Wars: The Art of the Brothers Hildebrandt (1997), and Greg and Tim Hildebrandt: The Tolkien Years (2001).
For more, see his entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
