Philip "Snapdragon" Stern (September 3, 1919 – December 13, 2014) was an American photographer noted for his iconic portraits of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

stars, as well as his war photography while serving as a

U.S. Army Ranger United States Army Rangers, according to the US Army's definition, are personnel, past or present, in any unit that has the official designation "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the US Army Ranger School, even if t ...

with " Darby's Rangers" during the North African and Italian campaigns in World War II. Settling in Los Angeles after the war, Stern was staff photographer for ''LOOK'' magazine. He also worked for '' Life'' magazine and ''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

''. He was present on numerous film productions as still photographer, and in that capacity took photographs of a huge cross-section of the film community. In 1972 Stern, at the instigation of Gary Merrill was in Nova Scotia for several weeks to document Merrill's friend, artist

Jack L. Gray Jack Lorimer Gray (April 28, 1927 – September, 1981) was a Canadian artist, known particularly for marine art. Biography Early life and education Jack L. Gray was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 28, 1927, the only child of civil eng ...

Several cine-reels shot by Stern from that period have survived. Stern's images of Marilyn Monroe,

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

and even musician

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

have become widely recognized icons. A lifelong smoker, Stern died at the age of 95 in Los Angeles from COPD and congestive heart failure which he had been battling for over three and a half decades.

References

External links

Official site
1919 births 2014 deaths Artists from Philadelphia Movie stills photographers American war photographers United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army Rangers Deaths from emphysema {{US-photographer-stub