Entertainment veteran Renato Casaro has died at 89, The Hollywood Reporter announced on Tuesday, September 30. Casaro was an artist known for designing movie posters for many classic motion pictures including “A Fistful of Dollars” which starred Clint Eastwood as the infamous antihero known as “The Man With No Name,” and “Conan the Barbarian,” the 1982 sword and sorcery fantasy.
The report also lists poster designs for “Red Sonja,” “The Running Man,” “Total Recall,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” and “True Lies” among the artist’s best known works.
Italian news outlet RAI says the Treviso, Italy native passed away in his hometown after being admitted to a hospital there a few days earlier with a bronchopneumonia diagnosis.
How Renato Casaro Gave Arnold Schwarzenegger a Big Career Boost
The Hollywood Reporter’s obituary for Casaro says his poster design for “Conan the Barbarian,” which featured a ripped Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role, helped put the legendary bodybuilder on the map.
They say the Guardian previously quoted the creative as calling the seven-time Mr. Olympia champion “the perfect man to paint,” saying, “He had a tough expression. His face was like a sculpture. It was a real pleasure for me. I have always had a weakness for heroes.”
Schwarzenegger’s website calls the film his “big break,” highlighting how the project became “box office gold.” The bio continues on to say that two years later, “Terminator” became a moment when the star “blew up the screen and catapulted himself into cinema history as the title character in James Cameron’s sci-fi thriller.” It also notes his films have grossed over $3 billion worldwide to date.
Renato Casaro’s Comeback Moment
In 1998, Casaro wrapped up his time designing posters, as digitization was making hand-drawn movie posters obsolete. He had a chance to pick up his old craft once again when the director of “Once Upon a Time in Hollwood,” Quentin Tarantino, contacted him about designing a series of posters for the project. Deadline says Tarantino reached out to the veteran designer because he hoped to harness the “authentic, vintage feel of 1960s/â70s Italian movie promotion.”
The outlet says Casaro started his storied career extremely young. At just 18, he was working at Studio Favalli, the dominating design firm for film in Rome. And as a 21-year-old, he had already established an independent studio of his own.
A fan left a comment on Instagram remembering Casaro as “a great legend,” before saying, “Thank you for your contribution.”
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