George Hurrell George Hurrell ( June 1 , 1904 – May 17 , 1992 ) was a photographer who made a significant contribution to the image of glamour presented by Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s . Early life . Born in Covington , Kentucky , Hurrell originally studied as a painter with no particular interest in photography . He first began to use photography only as a medium for recording his paintings . After moving to Laguna Beach , California from Chicago , Illinois in 1925 he found that photography was a more reliable source of income than painting . His photography was encouraged by his friend aviatrix Pancho Barnes , who often posed for him . He eventually opened a photographic studio in Los Angeles . Career in Hollywood . In the late 1920s , Hurrell was introduced to the actor Ramon Novarro , by Pancho Barnes , and agreed to take a series of photographs of him . Novarro was impressed with the results and showed them to the actress Norma Shearer , who was attempting to mould her wholesome image into something more glamorous and sophisticated in an attempt to land the title role in the movie The Divorcee . She asked Hurrell to photograph her in poses more provocative than her fans had seen before . After she showed these photographs to her husband , MGM production chief Irving Thalberg , Thalberg was so impressed that he signed Hurrell to a contract with MGM Studios , making him head of the portrait photography department . But in 1932 , Hurrell left MGM after differences with their publicity head , and from then on until 1938 ran his own studio at 8706 Sunset Boulevard . Throughout the decade , Hurrell photographed every star contracted to MGM , and his striking black - and - white images were used extensively in the marketing of these stars . Among the performers regularly photographed by him during these years were silent screen star Dorothy Jordan , as well as Myrna Loy , Robert Montgomery , Jean Harlow , Joan Crawford , Clark Gable , Rosalind Russell , Carole Lombard and Norma Shearer , who was said to have refused to allow herself to be photographed by anyone else . He also photographed Greta Garbo at a session to produce promotional material for the movie Romance . The session didn ' t go well and she never used him again . In the early 1940s Hurrell moved to Warner Brothers Studios photographing , among others Bette Davis , Ann Sheridan , Errol Flynn , Olivia de Havilland , Alexis Smith , Maxine Fife , Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney . Later in the decade he moved to Columbia Pictures where his photographs were used to help the studio build the career of Rita Hayworth . Postwar . He left Hollywood briefly to make training films for the First Motion Picture Unit of the United States Army Air Forces . When he returned to Hollywood in the mid - 1950s his old style of glamour had fallen from favour . Where he had worked hard to create an idealised image of his subjects , the new style of glamour was more earthy and gritty , and for the first time in his career Hurrell was not seen as an innovator . He moved to New York where he worked for fashion magazines and photographed for advertisements before returning to Hollywood in the 1960s . Death . Hurrell died shortly after completing the documentary from complications from his long standing problem with testicular cancer . When his doctors delivered the message to him that he had perhaps only a day left to live , he replied , " Well , at least my girlfriend will never have the pleasure of looking after these two danglers . " He died on May 17 , 1992 . Since his death , his works have appreciated in value .