Richard Amsel

Amsel's film posters commissions included some of the most important and popular films of the 1970s, including The Champ, Chinatown, Julia, The Last Picture Show, The Last Tycoon, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Muppet Movie, Murder on the Orient Express, Nashville, Papillon, The Shootist, The Sting, (The latter's poster design paid homage to the painting style of J. C. Leyendecker, evoking both his "Arrow Collar Man" and his covers for The Saturday Evening Post)[5][6] and Woodstock.

His portrait of comedian Lily Tomlin was featured on the cover of Time, and is now housed in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.[2][7] In keeping with the magazine's stringent deadlines, Amsel's illustration was created in only two or three days.

[9] Amsel's magazine work included portraits of: Ingrid Bergman, Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Mary Tyler Moore, Elvis Presley, Nancy Reagan, Tom Selleck, Frank Sinatra, John Travolta, and Princess Grace, as well as of Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, portraits which were created for the television debut of Gone with the Wind.

"[11] Ball then featured Amsel's work in the opening credits of a two-hour television tribute, CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years.

In response, Amsel created the posters for Flash Gordon, The Dark Crystal, and Raiders of the Lost Ark[1] which ultimately became his most famous work.

Amsel's covers were also shown at the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills, commemorating TV Guide's fortieth anniversary.

[14] In November 2021, Amsel was inducted into the Album Cover Hall of Fame, for his contributions to Bette Midler (Divine Miss M and Songs for the New Depression) and soundtracks to the films Hello Dolly and The Sting.

[19] In tandem with the documentary, McDaniel is developing a retrospective art book, with both projects through an exclusive agreement with the Richard Amsel estate.

[2] Amsel's final completed artwork was for an issue of TV Guide, featuring news anchors Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather.