Photographer. He began his career in the 1940s, photographing jazz musicians and album covers for Fantasy Records in San Franciso. In 1954, he found a new career in Hollywood when Warner Brothers contracted him to photograph Judy Garland on the set of "A Star Is Born". For the next 20 years he worked on movie sets capturing still photos of the most notable actors of the era, including Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn, Elvis Presley, Sophia Loren, Dustin Hoffman and many more. His published photo journals include "The Platinum Years" (1974), "Jazz in L.A." (1990), "Audrey: An Intimate Collection" (2002), "The Star Makers: On Set With Hollywood's Greatest Directors" (2003) and "Remembering Audrey 15 Years Later" (2008). Willoughby's photographs are also in the collections of The National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., The National Portrait Gallery, London, The Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris and The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, Beverly Hills. In 2004, he was presented the Lucie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Still Photography for Motion Pictures. Cause of death: cancer.
Photographer. He began his career in the 1940s, photographing jazz musicians and album covers for Fantasy Records in San Franciso. In 1954, he found a new career in Hollywood when Warner Brothers contracted him to photograph Judy Garland on the set of "A Star Is Born". For the next 20 years he worked on movie sets capturing still photos of the most notable actors of the era, including Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn, Elvis Presley, Sophia Loren, Dustin Hoffman and many more. His published photo journals include "The Platinum Years" (1974), "Jazz in L.A." (1990), "Audrey: An Intimate Collection" (2002), "The Star Makers: On Set With Hollywood's Greatest Directors" (2003) and "Remembering Audrey 15 Years Later" (2008). Willoughby's photographs are also in the collections of The National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., The National Portrait Gallery, London, The Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris and The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, Beverly Hills. In 2004, he was presented the Lucie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Still Photography for Motion Pictures. Cause of death: cancer.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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