Born in 1921, Sam fought for the Royal Navy during World War II. Upon returning to England, Sam was an amateur boxer but decided against turning professional, and turned to his artwork instead. By the mid 1950's Sam was the head of the art department at the advertisement company Pearl and Dean. Sam then went independant and made a living by painting book covers for such companies as Ace, Monarch, and Panther Books.
Then came Bond, James Bond. In 1954 Ian Fleming's debut 007 novel, Casino Royale, was published. In 1957, Sam (being employed by Pan Books at the time) created the first of his James Bond book covers. This brilliant peice of artwork symbolised everything that was great about Bond and the world in which he lives.
Sam created covers for many of the early James Bond novels, but when the film series began in 1962 with Dr. No (starring Sean Connery) the demand for Sam's work wained as the covers were replaced with images from the films.
But that didn't stop him. Sam moved onto creating British Quad Posters. Very saucy ones indeed.
Now, onto the autograph! As a big fan of James Bond, about 10 years ago I hunted down Sam's address in the UK and hand-wrote a 1 page fan letter to him. Not only did he send back a nice autograph, but he also took the time to write a letter to me as well. So, not only is he a brilliant artist, he's also a really nice guy too!
If you like what you've seen in this blog, please check out his website www.sampeffer.com for more information on his career.
Until next time!
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