Biography

Bob Peak was an American commercial illustrator, particularly known for creating film posters. He was strongly associated with the genres of fantasy and science fiction. He created the film posters for "Rollerball" (1975), "Superman" (1978), the first five "Star Trek" films (1979-1989), and "Excalibur" (1981).

In 1927, Peak was born in Denver, Colorado. He grew up in Wichita, Kansas, and received his tertiary education at the University of Wichita (later renamed to the Wichita State University). He majored in geology, but decided to follow the career of an illustrator. Following his military service in the early 1950s, he completed an art degree at the "Art Center College of Design", a private art college located at the time in Los Angeles, California (its campus was later moved to Pasadena). He graduated in 1951.

In 1953, Peak moved to New York City. He started working on advertising art, with one of his earliest works being an advertising campaign for Old Hickory Whiskey. His first major work in film posters came in 1961, when hired to illustrate the film poster for "West Side Story". The poster was a perceived success, and Peak was subsequently hired by "Bill Gold Advertising". It was the company owned by veteran illustrator Bill Gold (1921-2018), and which produced thousands of film poster designs. Peak found steady job in the field.

In 1977, Peak was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the "Society of Illustrators", a professional society for illustrators with its home-base in New York City. In the early 1980s, he was hired to illustrate postage stamps for both the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

Peak died in 1992, at the age of 65. Several of his film posters are considered classics of the genre, and are fondly regarded by collectors of film memorabilia. His son Matthew Peak was also an illustrator of film posters, primarily remembered for creating posters for the horror film series "Nightmare On Elm Street".
- IMDb mini biography by: Dimos I