Robert McGinnis was my favorite paperback cover artist. I loved his work on the Mike Halliday, Carter Brown, Richard Prather, John D. MacDonald, and M. E. Chaber series in the 1960s and early 1970s. Of course, Art Scott, who has the most complete collection of Robert McGinnis artwork in the world, would have a lot more to say about his friend’s long and successful career.
My favorite McGinnis cover is on Richard Prather’s Shell Scott classic, Kill the Clown. The color! The artistry! The beautiful woman! No other paperback artist had McGinnis’s style and flare. And, McGinnis provided Hard Case Crime covers while he was in his 90s!
We will never see an artist of Robert McGinnis’s talent. The world is a duller, less colorful place now that he is gone.
Do you have a favorite Robert McGinnis cover?
GREENWICH TIMES:
Robert McGinnis Obituary
Robert E. McGinnis
1926 – 2025
Renowned painter/illustrator, Robert E. McGinnis (those who knew him firsthand called him Bob), died at the age of 99, in Old Greenwich, on March 10, 2025. Bob was one of the most prolific illustrators of the 20th century. It’s likely you have seen one or more of his artwork images somewhere. They appeared in magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic, Good Housekeeping, McCall’s, Reader’s Digest and Guideposts; on very many book covers (especially paperback books, spanning many genres, from Detective to Mystery to Gothic to Historical Fiction to Romance to Fantasy); in the form of personal-project paintings that included many Old West scenes; and also on movie posters for culturally significant movies (and also on soundtrack album covers). In our biased opinion, Bob was the very best of the James Bond/007 artists, having created exciting images for the posters for movies such as Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, Casino Royale (parody movie), and Live and Let Die. In 1993, Bob was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame. This was a tremendous honor for Bob. He said he had to have three drinks before walking up to the podium to deliver his acceptance speech; he was a shy and unpretentious person.
Born in Cincinnati on February 3, 1926, Bob never allowed the limited vision in one of his eyes to slow him down: playing as number 74, left tackle, on the Ohio State University undefeated team of 1944, working as a teenage apprentice at Walt Disney Studios (he met Walt), and serving on boats in the Merchant Marines right before WWII ended. He was a man’s man. Among other things, he loved fishing with friends and his son, socializing with other artists and cartoonists and writers (he was friends with some of the top illustrators and gallery artists of his generation), and playing poker with a group of friends. He reveled in being surrounded by nature, whether it was as a kid roaming the fields of his grandparents’ farm in Oxford, Ohio, or later paddling a canoe on Ahmic Lake in Ontario, or fishing amid the Catskill Mountains, or jogging around Tod’s Point with his dog, Nellie.
Much is written about Bob, in books and magazines and online, regarding his massive talent and output. He was an active, competitive and innately hard-working person, and, most of all, he loved to draw and paint. His drive to succeed and his endurance at the easel enabled him to leave behind a body of work that will never be matched.
Bob leaves behind his three children, Melinda, Laurie and Kyle, a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law, three grandchildren, and a brother, David McGinnis. He was predeceased by his wife of 75 years, Ferne (who served in the critical support role toward Robert’s success as an artist, and who was also creative and a talented pastels artist), and by four of his five siblings.
Remember Bob the next time Ohio State beats Michigan in football. Or when you see the Breakfast At Tiffany’s movie poster image of Audrey Hepburn with a cat perched on her shoulder. Our father created that! (Co-written by Melinda and Kyle.)
I’m sorry to hear about Bob’s passing, but he gave it a long ride! His wonderful paintings were always a joy to behold! I’d have a hard time picking a favorite! Every time I’d choose one another would capture my attention! RIP!
Bob, many times I bought paperbacks simply because they had a Robert McGinnis cover! The man was original and great!
What a productive kind of artist!
I don’t know whether he created those book covers on the Carter Brown novels that I saw in the bookstore on my way to university in the early 60s but they made me buy one of those – and I enjoyed it so I bought more of them.
Wolf, Robert McGinnis painted exactly 100 covers for Carter Brown crime novels, spanning from 1961 to 1972.
I firmly believe that many paperback publishers of the 60s and 70s would have gone belly up if it were not for McGinnis and his wonderful covers.
Jerry, those McGinnis covers sold a lot of books!
He was the best! Another Titan gone. RIP.
Deb, Robert McGinnis’s iconic paintings will last a hundred years. Who can forget his BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S movie poster!
No specific favorite comes to mind, but his paintings were instantly recognizable, and I still remember seeing Art’s collection in person years ago, when it was a lit smaller. A true titan.
Jeff, Art Scott’s Robert McGinnis collection is the best in the world!
For me, his covers for the six Richard Stark novels published by Gold Medal, 1967-69. Perfect conceptualisations, never mind that no two of his Parkers looked alike. The 007 movie posters are masterpieces too. 99 is a good long life.
Fred, I totally agree with your choices! Love the Richard Stark covers! And no one can beat those 007 movie posters! Magnificent!
I grew up toward the tail end of lurid, pulply paperback covers and everything-including-the-kitchen-sink movie posters so I have a special place in my heart for artists like McGinnis. To this day I still find the full-figured, brunette McGinnis girl with the wry smile and challenging glance my default dream gal.
His style was the polar opposite of the stark Saul Bass school but both are equally valid approaches although at the end of the day I’m more sentimentally inclined to favor the McGinnis side of the fence (which is intrinsically just more fun). It was nice to see him live long enough to be hip again and have a career resurgence over the last 25 years.
He was amazingly prolific, reportedly doing of 1,400 paperback covers alone, and by all accounts almost ridiculously modest. There’s a terrific coffee table book of his commercial art in print and some great, affordable prints for sale as well.
If heaven did exist he’d be painting the sexiest tableaus of scantily clad vixen angels in alluring poses right about now. There’s so many great pieces to choose from and I’m tempted to go with the “Thunderball” poster but I’m also really taken with the noir-meets-tin-pan-alley cover of “Murder Me For Nickels.” Thanks for taking time to pay tribute to the man.
Byron, Robert McGinnis deserves all the accolades we can shower on his memory. His artwork was distinctive and always stylish. Art Scott became a friend of Robert McGinnis and reported that McGinnis was hardworking and modest. A grand combination for an exceptional artist!
Here are some of his pictures – adults only!
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/australian-carter-brown-covers/
Wolf, thanks for the link!
Thanks for posting this. I had not seen anything about McGinnis’s death.
He is also my favorite book cover illustrator. My favorite cover is the one for Kill Now, Pay Later by Robert Kyle, which is on the cover of The Art of Robert E. McGinnis. Another favorite is the cover for Gold Comes in Bricks by A.A. Fair.
Tracy, you have excellent taste in Robert McGinnis covers! One of my favorites is on another Robert Kyle DELL paperback: SOME LIKE IT COOL.
So sorry to hear of his passing.
One of the greats!
Beth, my hundred or so McGinnis paperbacks don’t hold a candle to Art Scott’s comprehensive collection! But, I grew up in the Sixties when McGinnis was providing covers for Mike Shayne, Carter Brown, and Richard Prather paperbacks. I, of course, bought them all! Now, book covers are generated by Artificial Intelligence.
George, you’ve put together a fine tribute. and comments from your readership display the influence that Bob had on readers who had discerning eyes. The Greenwich tribute by his son & daughter is the best – and most personal – of what I’ve found online. Washingtom Post & London Telegraph also had thorough obits. Other sites, Variety for instance, not surprising, focused on his movie work , the James Bond films & of course Breakfast at Tiffanys. NY Times – zilch. It was a privilege to know Bob. and I just wish that I hadn’t been clear across the continent and could have visited him more often.
Art, we will all miss Robert McGinnis…but his work lives on in books like the ones you participated in.