Michael Gross, who created ‘Ghostbusters’ logo, dies at 70

Lenny Ignelzi / AP

This July 16, 2014 file photo, artist Michael Gross sits in his studio between one of his paintings and one of his photos on his computer screen in Oceanside, Calif. Gross, an artist who created two of the most distinctive pop culture images of the 20th century, died Monday, Nov. 16 2015. He was 70.

By John Rogers, Associated Press

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 | 5:24 p.m.

LOS ANGELES — Michael Gross, an artist who created two of the most distinctive pop culture images of the 20th century, has died at age 70.

Gross' son, Dylan Goss, says his father died Monday at his home in Oceanside, California. He had been diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2014.

Gross first gained wide attention in 1973 for the National Lampoon cover of a dog with a gun to its head and the words, "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog."

A decade later, he created the enduring symbol of a confused looking ghost in the middle of a slashed red circle for the film "Ghostbusters."

More recently he launched a charity art project called "Flip Cancer" in which he and others drew raised middle fingers to protest the disease.