George Hurrell (1904-1992) American, Signed Photographic Print of Katharine Hepburn. Katharine Houghton Hepburn (1907-2003) was an American actress known for her strong-willed persona, outspoken nature, and unconventional roles. Hepburn’s career spanned six decades and included 44 films, 8 TV movies, and 33 stage plays. She won numerous accolades throughout her life, including four Academy Awards for Best Actress, the most of any actor in that category. Signed bottom right. Numbered 228/250 bottom left. A message from Hurrell is attached to the back, with a brief explanation of the work and photographer to the left and right of that. 

Overall Size: 22 1/4 x 26 in. 

Sight Size: 16 1/4 x 14 1/2 in. 

George Edward Hurrell was born June 1st, 1904 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1921 to study painting, occasionally taking photographs of his own work to record and preserve it. When he moved to Laguna Beach, California in 1925 he discovered that painting was a less reliable source of income than he had hoped. He met pioneering fashion photographer Edward Steichen, who encouraged him to pursue photography instead after seeing some of his work. Hurrell became an apprentice of Eugene Hutchinson, and was encouraged by the aviator Pancho Barnes, who often posed for him, to open his own studio in Los Angeles. By the late 1920s, Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer had helped him define his style into a smoky, glamorous, and sophisticated format that caught the eye of numerous studios. MGM production chief Irving Thalberg put him under contract in 1930, making him head of the portrait department. Hurrell left after differences with their publicity head in 1932, and ran his own freelance studio on Sunset Boulevard until 1938 when he began photographing for both Warner Brothers Studios and Columbia Pictures full time. Nearly every single star in Hollywood in the 1930s posed for him at one time or another, and he was known as the “Master of Glamor Photography.” When World War II broke out he left Hollywood to make training films for the First Motion Picture Unit of the United States Army Air Forces. By the time he returned to Hollywood in the mid 1950s his old style of glamor had fallen out of favor, as idealized images of film stars were exchanged for ones that were more earthy and gritty. After a few miserable years he moved to New York City, working in the advertising industry where glamor was still in vogue. In the 1960s he returned to Hollywood, capturing Marilyn Monroe’s last photoshoot, and becoming a lifelong friend of actress Mamie Van Doren. After 1970, his most prominent work was as a photographer for album covers, working with Cass Elliot, Helen Reddy, Tom Waits, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Paul McCartney, and many more. Hurrell died from complications from bladder cancer shortly after completing a TBS documentary about his life, on May 17th, 1992.