Mario A. Zamparelli | Artist and designer, 91

Mario Armond Zamparelli, 91, an internationally renowned artist who for nearly 20 years created the distinctive, often colorful logos, images, and posters for reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes' many companies, died Saturday of heart failure, his family said. He had homes in the Los Angeles suburbs of La Canada-Flintridge and San Marino, Calif.

Mr. Zamparelli, who worked in numerous styles and forms, was an illustrator for major magazines and movie posters in the early 1950s when Hughes came looking for someone to design posters for his RKO Pictures' movies. He told his aides to find posters done by people they believed were the best in the business.

"He pointed straight at my dad's poster and said, 'Get me that one,' " said the artist's daughter, Gina Zamparelli.

What followed was an association between the artist and the increasingly reclusive billionaire that continued until Hughes' death in 1976.

During that time, and for a few years afterward, Mr. Zamparelli created numerous logos, images, and designs for such companies as TWA, Hughes Helicopters, Hughes Aircraft, the Summa Corp., and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

As a painter, Mr. Zamparelli created the only portrait of Hughes that the billionaire is believed to have sat for. Gina Zamparelli said Hughes gave her father just two days to finish it, telling him he would never sit still for a portrait again.

In addition to working for Hughes, Mr. Zamparelli also created images and designs for numerous other companies over the years. Later in life, he returned to his first love, painting. - AP