Just a few weeks ago when I was writing my post on Andrei Bouzikov, I was wondering how old Frazetta was and how long he had to go in this world. Now - unfortunately - I know.
At the end of the '70s, when Frazetta was at his most popular, I was at just the right age to fall in love with his work. I was reading Robert E. Howard's Conan books, was obsessed with Tolkien and loved Ralph Bakshi's Wizards and Rings. Milius' Conan The Barbarian and the Bakshi/Frazetta collaboration Fire And Ice were just about to hit. And when I say "fall in love" with his work I mean it literally. Those curvaceous slave girls, warrior princesses and necromantic witches made quite an impression on my randy adolescent psyche. Boobies!
The Death Dealer has come, and taken one of the great fantasy visionaries with him. Frank, may you ever sit at the right hand of Crom.
Each time I think about his passing, I miss him more. He was an enormous influence on my adolescent 70's psyche and through the years. I missed working on "Fire and Ice", but I did work for Bakshi when he made "The Lord of the Rings". A very psychedelic experience in and of itself!
ReplyDeleteI've added a link to your site from one of my blogsites: http://monstermovieworld.blogspot.com
Best of luck!
That's awesome that you worked on Bakshi's LOTR. It's such an odd little cinematic curio now that it lives in the shadow of Jackson's trilogy.
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