Bette Davis
When you think of the Golden age of Hollywood you cannot help but think about the wonderful photographic images of the stars. Image was everything in old Hollywood, important for the studios and important for the stars, nothing less than perfect would do, there was not much room for gritty realism, with the great worldwide depression of the thirties people had enough of that in their lives, they looked to Hollywood for escapism and to fuel new aspirations. The stars could not look like mere mortals, they had to look like Gods and Godesses. George Hurrell was one of the best photographers in the business, a creative force with lighting, skilled at sculpting faces with shadow and a master at retouching. He did not go in for the girl and boy next door look or the cheesecake, pin up photographs that became so popular in the late forties and fifties, his genre was pure glamour, he was in the business of creating icons...
Bette Davis
The man dubbed the "Grand Seigneur of the Hollywood Portrait," was born
in Covington, KY, across the river from Cincinnati, in 1904. By the time
he was eight, young George Hurrell had developed an interest in
painting and drawing. He fell into photography almost by accident,
originally learning how to use a camera so that he could photograph his
paintings.
After studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, Hurrell was commissioned to photograph paintings and painters in Laguna Beach, CA art colony in 1925. Hurrell moved west hoping to continue his art studies. Before long, however, taking pictures took the place of painting pictures as he found more work shooting portraits.
Norma Shearer
One of Hurrell's first subjects was the famed aviatrix Poncho Barnes.
Through her, he met silent-screen star Ramon Novarro, who commissioned a
series of portraits from Hurrell. Thrilled with the results, Novarro
showed off his new stills to co-workers at MGM, where they caught the
eye of leading lady Norma Shearer. Shearer was desperate to convince her
husband, MGM production chief Irving G. Thalberg, that she could
generate enough sex appeal to play the lead in The Divorcée.
She hired Hurrell to take some sizzling photos that landed her the role.
Thalberg and Shearer were so impressed with Hurrell's work that he was
hired as head of the MGM portrait gallery in 1930.
Norma Shearer
For the next two years, Hurrell photographed every star at MGM, from
Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and Greta Garbo to Wallace Beery and Marie
Dressler. His work set a new standard for Hollywood portraits. It even
inspired a new name for the genre — glamour photography.
Norma Shearer
After a disagreement with MGM publicity head Howard Strickling, Hurrell
left to set up his own studio on Sunset Boulevard. The stars flocked to
Hurrell for portraits.
Greta Garbo
Marlene Dietrich
Hedy Lamarr
Tallulah Bankhead
Veronica Lake
Carol Lombard
Myrna Loy
Jean Harlow
But movies remained Hurrell's first love. After six years, he moved to
Warner Bros., helping build the careers of such stars as Bette Davis,
Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, and James Cagney. Hurrell moved to
Columbia, where he shaped Rita Hayworth's image.
Rita Hayworth
After service with the First Motion Picture Unit of the U.S. Army Air
Force, where he shot training films and photographed generals at the
Pentagon, Hurrell returned to Hollywood, but soon found that the old
style of glamour photography had fallen out of fashion. He relocated to
New York, where he continued shooting advertising and fashion lay-outs
through the 50s.
In 1952, Hurrell returned to Hollywood and started a television
production company with his wife, Phyllis. It was located on the Disney
lot. After two years, he returned to New York. He settled in Southern
California permanently in 1956, eventually moved back into the film
industry as a unit still man.
Beginning in 1965 with an exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art,
his work has been showcased at museums throughout the world. He
published The Hurrell Style, with text by Whitney Stine, in
1976, followed by other commemorative books and special-edition prints
of his work. It was during these years that he shot stars like Liza
Minelli, Paul Newman, and Robert Redford. Even after his retirement in
1976, he continued to shoot portraits, adding to his portfolio such
representatives of the new Hollywood as Sharon Stone, Brooke Shields,
and John Travolta. Among his last assignments were photographing Warren
Beatty and Annette Benning for Bugsy, Natalie Cole for the
best-selling "Unforgettable" album, and a fashion layout with Jennifer
Flavin, his last photographic subject.
Jean Harlow
These two photographs of Joan Crawford, demonstrate Hurrells retouching talents, today airbrushing and digitally enhancing photographs is a matter of pressing buttons but in the early days, it was a painstaking process, done by hand and often took hours.
