Rinaldo Geleng (1920-2003) will forever be immortalized as one of Federico Fellini’s best friends in life — most notably, from his cameo appearances in the master auteur’s biography, Federico Fellini: His Life and Work, as well as the 2002 doc, Fellini: I’m A Born Liar.

But Geleng was an accomplished artist in his own right as he first attained a modicum of fame as a portrait painter in Italy — then his career really took off when Fellini hired him to head the art department for his early 50’s films. Their partnership continued on through the 80’s, as Geleng created an astonishing array of both Italian and French movie posters for some of the most popular films of their time (Bus Stop, A Streetcar Named Desire, An Affair To Remember), each design trademarked by his easily recognizable, vertically-challenged signature that appears to fall off the page.

And Geleng spread his artistic talent genetically onto his son, Giuliano, who created the famous Amarcord poster for Fellini’s 1973 film (bottom row, far right). In 2000, Felllini, honored his old pal by presenting an exhibition of his work at the Galleria Ca’d’Oro in Rome.