Bill Ray shot some of the most iconic celebrity images of the 20th Century

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of famed LIFE magazine photographer Bill Ray.

Via the NY Post
By Isabel Vincent

January 18, 2020

Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy at 

Madison Square Garden in May 1962

When Private Elvis Presley shipped out of the Brooklyn Navy Yard on his way to his military tour of duty in West Germany in September 1958, the US Army’s brass band played “Hound Dog” to honor the King of Rock and Roll.

“And the captains and the majors helped him with his bags!” said Bill Ray, the former LIFE Magazine photographer who captured the moment.

Ray, who died earlier this month at his home on the Upper West Side, shot some of the most iconic celebrity images of the 20th century.

There is his photograph of a sultry Marilyn Monroe in a shimmering, nude-colored dress, its plunging bare back accentuating her curves as she sang a breathy rendition of “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in May 1962. Three months after Ray shot the picture on stage from behind the movie star, the troubled sex symbol would be dead of an overdose. Kennedy was assassinated a year after that, and the famous dress, designed by Hollywood costume designer Jean Louis, sold at auction a few years ago for nearly $5 million.

Ray, who worked for LIFE in Los Angeles, Paris and Beverly Hills, shot The Beatles when they first arrived in Los Angeles in 1964, partied with Roman Polanski and his wife Sharon Tate a year before the pregnant actress was brutally murdered by Charles Manson in 1969. He was a regular presence on hundreds of Hollywood movie sets, photographing Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot and Natalie Wood, among others.

“Steve McQueen once told me that he had to have sex five times a day,” said Ray about the “Bullitt” star at a 2009 presentation of his greatest work at the Coffee House Club in midtown, where he had been a member for more than 50 years. “I was too stunned to ask Steve what happens if you don’t.”

William Ray was born in Shelby, Nebraska, a windswept village of 626 about two hours west of Omaha. Ray was the youngest of four children of a prosperous lumber merchant and his artist wife. He developed such a passion for photography that by the time he was 11, he was already a member of the Omaha Camera Club and had his own professional darkroom at home. He got his first staff job as a 17-year-old at the Lincoln Star Journal newspaper.

“The city editor had a smoke and hired me on the spot,” he said.

After a photographic workshop in Hannibal, Missouri, where he impressed the faculty with a series of photographs about the local barbershop, Ray was hired by LIFE magazine and sent to New York in 1957.

“I wanted to live in New York City since I saw Fred [Astaire] dance with Ginger [Rogers] in Central Park,” he said.

For years, Ray and Marlys Ray, his wife of nearly 62 years, lived in a sprawling apartment across from Central Park where he was a regular on the tennis courts and an avid bird watcher. On January 8, the couple took a long walk in the park, feeding a few cardinals along the way, “and, best of all, saw the rising nearly full moon with a kiss (one of our silly rituals),” said Marlys Ray, a partner in her husband’s photo business.

“It was his best day in a long time.”

Ray died hours later of a heart attack. He was 83.

The Story of Richard and Mildred Loving

Photograph by Grey Villet

Richard and Mildred Loving laughing and watching television

in their living room, King and Queen County, Virginia, 1965

Exhibit of Photographs Coincides with Feature Film “Loving” Premiere

Santa Fe--Monroe Gallery of  Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, is pleased to exhibit  LIFE magazine photographer Grey Villet's intimate images of an interracial couple, Richardand Mildred Loving, who married and then spent the next nine years fighting for the right to live as a family in their hometown. Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right to marry. Grey Villet’s photographs are on exhibit November 1 – December 21, 2016.

On November 4, the feature film “Loving” opens, from acclaimed writer/director Jeff Nichols and starring Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga in the roles of Richard and Mildred Loving.

The families of Richard Perry Loving and Mildred Delores Jeter had lived in Caroline County, Virginia for generations. Richard first met Mildred while listening to her brothers play music at the Jeters’ home. They dated for a few years before deciding to marry. Interracial marriage was illegal in Virginia and in twenty-five other states. For this reason, on June 2, 1958, Richard brought to his bride-to-be to Washington, D.C., where there were no racial bans on marriage.

Based on an anonymous tip that the Lovings were illegally living as a married, sheriff Garnett Brooks and two deputies burst into the Lovings’ bedroom on July 11, 1958 at 2 a.m. When Richard explained that the woman in bed with him was his wife, Brooks replied, “Not here she’s not.” They were arrested for unlawful cohabitation and both pled not guilty. Richard only spent one night in jail while Mildred had to spend four; Richard was told that he would be put back in jail if he tried to bail out his wife.

In October 1958, the grand jury of the Circuit Court of Caroline County charged the Lovings with violating two sections of Virginia’s 1924 Racial Integrity Act. Because Richard was white and Mildred was African American and Native American, their marriage was illegal and a felony offence in Virginia.

On January 6, 1959, the Lovings pleaded guilty to the felony charge of miscegenation and Judge Leon M. Bazile sentenced them to one year in prison. The sentence was suspended if the Lovings agreed to be banished from Virginia for twenty-five years. On appeal, Bazile refused to set aside his original verdict, thereby propelling the Lovings’ case toward the U.S. Supreme Court, stating, “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay, and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.”

Banished from Virginia, the Lovings’ moved to Washington, D.C. In June 1963, Mildred wrote to Attorney General Robert Kennedy, asking if the new Civil Rights legislation would help her family return to Virginia. Kennedy responded that Mildred contact the American Civil Liberties Union, who had been actively pursuing anti-miscegenation test cases since the late 1950s. ACLU attorneys Bernard S. Cohen and Philip J. Hirschkop took the Lovings’ case, filing a brief in November 1964. The Loving v. Virginia decision delivered on June 12, 1967, found all miscegenation laws unconstitutional.

From Chief Justice Earl Warren’s 1967 unanimous opinion:
"Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State."

In an era before any digital tinkering with results was possible, Grey Villet’s technique was one that required intense concentration, patience and understanding of his subjects joined with a technical mastery that allowed rapid use of differing cameras and lenses to capture and compose the "right stuff" on film as it happened. “RIGHTS, RACE & REVOLUTIONS:A Portrait of LIFE in 1960s America by Grey Villet” was exhibited at the Museum at Bethel Woods April 2 – December 31, 2016. Grey Villet died in 2000.

Gallery hours are 10 to 5 Daily, admission is free. Visit www.monroegallery.com for more information.

On this day, in 1961, thirteen civil rights activists dubbed Freedom Riders began a bus trip through the south

 

Via The Guardian

Jim Powell  guardian.co.uk, Saturday 4 May 2013 05.22 EDT

Freedom riders - picture of the day

A photographic highlight selected by the picture desk. On this day in 1961 the 'Freedom Riders' began their bus trip through the American South. Thirteen Freedom Riders left Washington, DC, in two separate buses with the aim of challenging segregated public transport in the South

Freedom Riders Julia Aaron and David Dennis sitting on board an interstate bus escorted by two National Guardsmen holding bayonets, on their way from Montgomery, Alabama, to Jackson, Mississippi

Paul Schutzer/Time & Life Pictures/Getty


Related:  On this day, in 1961, thirteen civil rights activists dubbed Freedom Riders began a bus trip through the south, carrying on the fight for justice sparked by Martin Luther King Jr.

 Via PBS:   Freedom Riders is the powerful harrowing and ultimately inspirational story from award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson of this six months in 1961 that chanved America forever. This saga, based on Raymond Arsenault's book of the same name, features testimony from a fascinating cast of central characters: the Riders themselves, state and federal government officials, and journalists who witnessed the Rides firsthand.

Watch a preview of Freedom Riders below

Watch Video Visit Website

Bill Eppridge: 50 Years of Photojournalism

June 5, 1968. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Ethel (Standing at the podium in the Ambassador Hotel Ballroom. Kennedy was just finishing his California primary victory speech and was moments away from walking into the kitchen where he was shot by Sirhan Sirhan.)

Photograph by Bill Eppridge/LIFE/©TimeInc.

 

photo la 2013

Keynote Speaker Bill Eppridge

Friday, January 18, 2013  3:30 - 5 PM

Bill Eppridge, noted photojournalist, lectures on his experiences documenting the 1960s, specifically, Robert F. Kennedy's final campaign and the Beatles first US tour.

 

Museum Exhibit

FOTOmentor Exhibition
Bill Eppridge: 50 Years of Photojournalism

Opening Reception

January 25, 2013 from 6:00-8:00 pm

On View thru January 12 to February 28, 2013

 

One highlight of the upcoming FOTOfusion will be the presentation of the prestigious FOTOmentor Award to Bill Eppridge, a Life Magazine staff photographer during the golden era of photojournalism when the big picture publications supported numerous pages of great photography. In addition to the award, Mr. Eppridge’s work will be featured in this year’s FOTOmentor Exhibition.

Present at some of history’s most famous events, Eppridge’s photographs weave a visual narrative of our times. This exhibition will feature many of his most famous images from the Sixties including the Presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy, the Beatles first U.S. visit, the Woodstock Music festival, and his groundbreaking photo essay on heroin addiction in Needle Park.

A self-taught photographer, Bill Eppridge later graduated from the University of Missouri Journalism School. Winning first prize in the National Press Photographers competition earned him internships at Life magazine, where he was named a staff photographer in 1964 and stayed until the magazine folded in 1972. Following assignments with National Geographic, Mr. Eppridge spent 30 years traveling the world as a photographer for Sports Illustrated.

He has been awarded the Joseph A. Sprague Award, The Missouri Journalism Honor Medal and The Lucie Foundation Achievement in Photojournalism. In 2009, Mr. Eppridge was inducted into the Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame. He has published four books and his work is included in major collections and museums worldwide.

Bill Eppridge was a Life staff photographer during the golden era of photojournalism when the big picture magazines supported pages of great photography. Present at some of history’s most famous events, Eppridge’s photographs weave a visual narrative of our times. The exhibition features his most famous images from the Sixties including the Presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy, the Beatles first U.S. visit, the Woodstock Music festival, and his groundbreaking photo essay on heroin addiction in Needle Park.

Mr. Eppridge will present the Rising Star award at the FOTOfusion Awards Dinner on January 23 and will be present at the exhibition’s Opening Reception on January 25.

About the FOTOmentor Award:

Each year, the PBPC Awards Committee selects a photographer to receive the FOTOmentor Award in honor of his/her lifetime achievements in the world of photography. Previous recipients include distinguished photographers Ralph Gibson, Gordon Parks, Sebastiao Salgado, Arnold Newman, Ruth Bernhard, Duane MichaeIs, James Nachtwey, Michael Kenna, David Hume Kennerly and Robert Glenn Ketchum.
 

KEN REGAN: “If you’re able to capture an image that nobody else has, then that’s what makes the image important"

Ken Regan (L) with Bill Eppridge (R)

Monroe Gallery Booth, AIPAD 2010

 

"Good friend, formidable competitor. He goes to a better place. I miss that smile already." -- Bill Eppridge

 

 

 

 

 Photojournalist Ken Regan

Joe McNally:  A Pro's Pro: "Colleague, friend, and mentor….Godspeed…."

NPR: Remembering A Rock Star: Photographer Ken Regan

New York Times: Ken Regan, Photojournalist Trusted by Celebrities, Dies


NY Times Slideshow: The Photographs of Ken Regan

Le Journal de la Photographie - In memoriam: Death of Ken Regan


"His real secret was that he was enormously likable, the nicest guy you'd ever meet"

Rolling Stone: Ken Regan, Iconic Rock & Roll Photographer, Dies of Cancer
 

Photo District News: Obituary: Ken Regan, Celebrity and Sports Photographer

 

Courtesy of Camera 5

 

 

 

 

 

National Press Photographers Association: Photographer Ken Regan Loses Cancer Fight

 

LIFE Photographer Bill Eppridge: Presidents, Politicians, and Transitions: Photographing Political Campaigns - Then & Now

Via B&H Photo

Speakers: Bill Eppridge

Event Type: Photography

Skill Level: Intermediate

Register here

 Sunday, October 14, 2012 | 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

 

Join legendary Life magazine photojournalist Bill Eppridge as he takes a look back at the politicians and campaigns he photographed in the nineteen sixties and seventies, and talks about how the issues that were happening then are still prevalent in this country today. He will also talk about advances in the camera equipment he uses, and how he transitioned from film to digital cameras beginning in 2001. This is a unique opportunity to learn about history and political coverage from someone who experienced it with insider access.

Many people are familiar with Eppridge’s historic coverage of Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign, and his two books on Kennedy. Less well known and rarely seen are his photographs of President Lyndon Johnson during a campaign trip on Air Force One, and assignments covering the fear mongers of the early sixties - Governor George Wallace of Alabama during the Wisconsin presidential primary, and Robert Shelton, the grand wizard of the United Klans of America among other controversial figures of that time. He also covered both the Republican and the Democratic conventions in 1972, the year in which the Vietnam War was dividing the country and Richard Nixon was re-elected.

Eppridge believes that politics is more important than the average person realizes, and that politics shape our daily lives, from health care to farming. He will also discuss the difference in access to candidates then as opposed to now. He went to a rally for then candidate Obama in 2008 to see this himself, and will share tips for covering local political campaigns, something that almost anyone can do nowadays.

Eppridge continues to work as a photographer today and will discuss how the technological changes of the past decades have made it easier for both professionals and amateurs.

Photograph by Bill Eppridge / LIFE / © Time Inc.

Bill Eppridge

 

Bill Eppridge is based in Connecticut where he continues to work on personal projects. He is producing books and exhibits of his recent photographs as well as work from his vast archive. He has been a working photographer for more than fifty years and has covered a wide array of subjects as diverse as the Beatles arrival in America; the Woodstock festival; heroin addicts in Needle Park; the Presidential campaign of Senator Robert F. Kennedy; the Vietnam War; Olympics; The America’s Cup; Elephant soccer in Thailand, and much more. He was a staff photographer for the original weekly Life magazine until publication ceased in 1972. He later worked for as a photographer for Sports Illustrated for nearly 30 years.

He has been awarded some of photography’s highest honors including the National Headliners Award; NPPA’s Joseph A. Sprague award; The Missouri Journalism School Honor Medal, and was the 2011 Lucie Foundation Honoree for Photojournalism.

Photograph by Adrienne Aurichio