Phil Stern, photographer to the stars, dies at 95

Photographer Phil Stern, known for his candid shots of Hollywood stars and jazz musicians, has died.

Stern died Saturday in Los Angeles after an extended hospital stay. He was 95.

Stern worked as a combat photographer for the Army newspaper Stars and Stripes during World War II, where he served as a US Army Ranger in the North African and Italian campaigns.

He settled in Los Angeles after the war and became a staff photographer for Look magazine. He also worked as one of Life magazine’s top Hollywood photographers.

Among the iconic stars he photographed were Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland, James Dean and John Wayne. He also shot album covers for Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Dizzy Gillespie, among others.

https://twitter.com/FilmIntuition/status/544428788738555904

Stern, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants to the United States, grew up in New York.

He did not believe that he or other photographers should be considered artists.

“Matisse I ain’t,” Stern was widely quoted as saying.

His work has been displayed for decades at the Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles.