Basil Gogos:
Painting By 'OO' Numbers
It is amazing the people you meet at movie conventions. Take for example, famed artist Basil Gogos, who is well known for his graphic horror paintings which have graced the covers of such magazines as FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND and CREEPY.
But did you know he also did some work on a James Bond poster.
In fact he did some touch-up work by adding the karate men into the background of the poster THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN.
The Man with the Golden Gun poster add-on.
"I did that in a weekend" said Basil in his thick European accent.
"United Artist wanted something more added to the poster and I was given the assignment. It took the rest of my weekend, in early December of 1974, to add those little men."
The poster was originally conceived and painted by Robert McGinnis, but it just goes to show how corporations can make the final decision into an artist life.
Basil poses with a few of his "Lon Chaney, Sr." artworks.
Basil Gogos is no stranger to corporate decision making. He was the one who conceived and designed original artwork of famous monsters Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney for the United States Postal Service Stamp Commemorative Series.
The Universal Monsters Commemorative Stamp Series
Unfortunately, Basil lost his idea to another artist when the USPS decided that his work was not good enough for commercial purposes.