bob willoughby: the silver age of hollywood

Elizabeth Taylor portrait in white dress on the MGM set of Raintree County, 1956.

Bob Willoughby: The Silver Age of Hollywood

James Dean going over his script on the Warner Bros. set of Rebel without a Cause, 1955.

Martin Dean and Frank Sinatra on the set of the Judy Garland show, 1962

Bob Willoughby, whose photographs have transformed the images of Hollywood's biggest stars, is a true pioneer of 20th century photography. He was the first "outside" photographer hired by the major studios to create photographs for the magazines, and was the link between the filmmakers and major magazines of the time, such as Life and Look.

He was responsible for a number of technical innovations, including the silent blimp for 35mm still cameras, which became common on film sets. He was the only photographer working on films at the time to use radio-controlled cameras, allowing him unprecedented coverage in otherwise impossible situations, and he had special brackets built to hold his still cameras on or over the Panavision cameras.

Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman on a specially constructed set a Paramount during filming of The Graduate, 1967.

Montgomery Clift sitting beneath a bulletin board on set of Raintree County, 1956.

Audrey Hepburn rehearses the Loverly number with playback on the Warner Bros. Set of My Fair Lady, 1963.

Michael Caine on the set of Gambit, Universal Studios, 1965

Sophia Loren and Elvis Presley, Paramount Studios, 1958

Audrey Hepburn, in her Los Angeles hotel room in L.A., on her first trip to Hollywood after filming Roman Holiday, 1953.

Dustin Hoffman, buzzed by a World War I airplane, sits on set of The Graduate, Paramount Studios, 1967.

Audrey Hepburn on the set of Paris When It Sizzles, 1962

Marilyn Monroe lost in her own thoughts on set of Let´s Make Love, 1960.

Audrey Hepburn getting into a car after her first photo shoot at Paramount, having recently finished her first film Roman Holiday, 1953

Frank Sinatra sitting in the open door way on the 20th Century Fox soundstage for Can-Can, 1959.

Mia Farrow perched long-legged on the scaffolding of the Paramout set for Rosemary´s Baby, 1967.

Frank Sinatra on set of The Man with The Golden Arm, 1955

Alfred Hitchcock, the famous “profile” on the Universal Studios set of Marnie, 1964

Audrey Hepburn and director George Cukor chat after filming has finished for the day, on the Covent Garden set of My Fair Lady, 1963.

Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Al Hart and Sammy Davis Jr. in the steam room at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in 1960.

Director Blake Edwards makes a direct hit on Natalie Wood with a cream pie, on set of The Great Race, 1964.

Dean Martin playing Blackjack at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas with Frank Sinatra, 1960.

Dustin Hoffman and Katherine Ross running away from the church at the end of 'The Graduate', Paramount Studios, 1967.

Richard Burton during the filming of 'The Desert Rats', 1953

Vincente Minnelli and Gene Kelly discuss the placement of dancers on Brigadoon while MGM stills man Eric Carpenter takes a 3D picture for the directors, 1954

Director George Cukor, gives Judy Garland the “world” on a deserted sound stage during A Star Is Born, 1954

Elizabeth Taylor on the Warner Bros. set of Who´s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?, 1965.

Jack Lemmon quietly smokes his cigar on the set of "Luv", Columbia Studios, 1966.

Elizabeth Taylor throws a dressing gown over her costume on the MGM set of Raintree County, 1956.

Humphrey Bogart, one of the most memorable faces in the history of cinema, portrayed as Captain Queeg in The Caine Mutiny, Columbia Studios, 1953.

Kirk Douglas stands out of the studio lights on the Columbia Studios set of The Juggler, 1952

Lee J. Cobb sitting on the lunar landscape location of MGM's Green Mansions, 1958.

Jean Seberg by the banks of the Loire River in France, where she made a  pilgrimmage to the places that Joan of Arc lived and died in, just before she made the film Saint Joan, 1956.

Jane Fonda in They shoot horses don't they ? 1969

Alfred Hitchcock next to the Grandfather clock on the Universal Studios set of Marnie, 1964.

Judy Garland as the tramp on the Warner Bros. set of A Star Is Born, 1954.

Judy Garland dressed as a tramp for the "Lose That Long Face" sequence in "A Star Is Born," Warner Bros., 1953.

Donald Sutherland sits for his portrait on location in NY for Klute, 1970.

Frank Sinatra rehearsing for his show at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, 1960.

Peter O'Toole

The Rat Pack rogues Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin photographed at the Sands Hotel, Las Vegas, 1960.

Judy Garland on the partially lit set of the London Palladium during filming of I Could Go on Singing, 1962.

Jane Fonda resting in a New York City garment factory during shooting of Klute, 1970..

Kevin Kline takes a short rest during lunch break on his first film,  The Pirates of Penzance, at Shepperton Studios, UK, 1982.

Jane Fonda rehearses to herself on the unlit set of 'They Shoot Horses Don't They?', Warner Brothers, 1969

Kevin Kline at Shepperton Studios during filming of The Pirates of Penzance, 1982.

Goldie Hawn on Columbia Studios set of Cactus Flower, 1969.

Audrey Hepburn and Ip the deer in the market, during time of filming Green Mansions, 1958.

Dustin Hoffman checks the lines with the script supervisor on set of The Graduate, Paramount Studios, 1967.

Gene Hackman on location in Big Sur, CA for Zandy's Bride, 1973

Pier Angeli with Kirk Douglas in his MGM dressing room during The Story of Three Loves, 1952

On her first trip to Hollywood after finishing Roman Holiday, Audrey Hepburn is photographed in the Portrait Gallery of Paramount Studios by Bud Fraker, 1953.

Deliciously attractive Natalie Wood in rehearsal on The Great Race,1964.

Frank Sinatra on the Warner Bross, set of Marriage on the Rocks, 1965.

Photographed for French Vogue, Audrey Hepburn on set of Paris When It Sizzles, 1962.

Director Otto Preminger showing Kim Novak how to play the scene with Frank Sinatra on The Man with the Golden Arm, RKO Studios, 1955

Shirley MacLaine on the 20th Century Fox set of Can-Can, 1959.

Sean Connery on the set of Hitchcock’s 'Marnie', Universal Studios, 1964

Frank Sinatra in front of the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas at night, 1960.

Peter O'Toole at the Beverly Hills Hotel, 1962

Jerry Lewis at a recording session for The Nagger, Hollywood, 1953.

Director Sydney Pollack on Warner Bros. set They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, 1969

Kim Novak on the RKO set of The Man with the Golden Arm, 1955.

Rock Hudson in his Universal Studios dressing room for One Desire, 1954.

Sophia Loren surrounded by other actresses' dress forms in the Paramount Studios Wardrobe Department, 1958.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?", 1965

Director Charles Vidor and Rock Huston on the set of A Farewell to Arms, 1957

James Dean sitting in the shadows on the Warner Bros. set of Rebel Without a Cause, 1955

Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift dance in rehearsal on the MGM set of Raintree County, 1958.

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