George Edward Hurrell

Place: Walnut Hills

Born: 1904

Death: 1992

Biography:

George Edward Hurrell was born on June 1, 1904 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was an American photographer who contributed to the image of glamour presented by Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. Hurrell originally studied as a painter with no particular interest in photography. He first began to use photography only as a medium for recording his paintings. After moving to Laguna Beach, California from Chicago, Illinois in 1925 he met many other painters who had connections. One of those connections was Edward Steichen who encouraged him to pursue photography after seeing some of his works. Hurrell also found that photography was a more reliable source of income than painting. He was an apprentice to Eugene Hutchinson. His photography was encouraged by his friend aviator Pancho Barnes, who often posed for him. He eventually opened a photographic studio in Los Angeles. In the late 1920s, Hurrell was introduced to the actor Ramon Novarro by Pancho Barnes, and agreed to take a series of photographs of him. Novarro was impressed with the results and showed them to the actress Norma Shearer, who was attempting to mould her wholesome image into something more glamorous and sophisticated in an attempt to land the title role in the movie The Divorcee. She asked Hurrell to photograph her in poses more provocative than her previous images. Hurrell's portraits of Shearer were a success and helped establish his reputation as a leading Hollywood photographer. He worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer until 1932, and then at his own studio, making portraits of many Hollywood stars. After the Second World War, Hurrell's style of glamour photography fell out of favor in Hollywood, and he moved to New York, where he worked for magazines and in advertising. In the 1970s, he returned to California and worked on album covers and other projects. Hurrell died on May 17, 1992, in Los Angeles.