Hooray for Hurrell 1

Film · Visual arts

Norma Shearer by Hurrell 1929
We caught up recently with Mark Vieira, author of the newly published “George Hurrell’s Hollywood,” an image-filled tribute to the film industry’s lauded glamour photographer. When asked how Hurrell got his start in high-gloss movie-star portraiture, Mark explained, 

“Hurrell was an unknown commercial photographer in the artsy Westlake District of Los Angeles when he made this portrait of actress Norma Shearer and an unidentified child model. Shearer was, of course, the highest-grossing star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Hollywood’s most prestigious studio. This portrait session led Hurrell to a job at M-G-M, where he invented the Hollywood glamour portrait.

“I encountered this photograph in 1974 in the home of a Norma Shearer memorabilia collector named Myron Braum. He allowed me to copy it for my own collection and to help me study Hurrell’s technique. That study ultimately resulted in my new book from Running Press, “George Hurrell’s Hollywood.”

Hurrell and Hollywood Glamour Hollywood Heritage ‘Evening at the Barn’ | Lasky-DeMille Barn Jan 8, 2014


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One comment on “Hooray for Hurrell

  1. Mark A. Martin Jan 9,2014 12:24 pm

    It was a very nice evening at the Lasky-DeMille barn of Hollywood Heritage which featured Author Mark Vieira and his newly published book on legendary Hollywood Photographer George Hurrell. Mr. Vieira’s anecdotes were highly informative and entertaining. His new book includes stunning photographs of cinema icons from Hollywood’s Classic Era and I heartily recommend it to all cinema buffs for inclusion in their personal libraries.

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