Sid Avery, born 12 October 1918, was an American photographer and director who was best known for capturing the private moments of legendary Hollywood celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn as showcased in his book, "Hollywood at Home."
Sid Avery was born in Akron, Ohio but at only nine months old his family relocated to Los Angeles California. He ended up receiving his high school education at the Roosevelt High School in Seattle.
Avery discovered his love and talent of photography when he was young due to the fact that he was able to work with his uncle, Max Tatch, who was a landscape and architectural photographer. His uncle was able to teach him the skills required to use cameras, film, and darkrooms.
After graduating from high school, Avery worked in a camera store on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. While working in the camera store he had many opportunities to meet famous photographers. This also encouraged him to take more photography classes and gain experience by working as a darkroom assistant.
After serving in the Army in World War II, he returned home and began photographing celebrities full time. Avery eventually became one of the top advertising photographers in Los Angeles. He was also a director of television commercials.
Avery's work was commonly featured in publications such as Life, Look, Colliers and The Saturday Evening Post. Avery married Diana Avery and together they had three children named Sandra Guttman, Marc Avery, and Ron Avery.
Avery founded the Hollywood Photographer's Archive (HPA) known today as MPTV Images in an effort to preserve the work of the early Hollywood photographers, which is still run by his son Ron Avery. In 1990 Avery published Hollywood at Home: A Family Album 1950-1965.
Sid Avery died on 1 July 2002, aged of 83, in Los Angeles, California. Avery is best remembered for his photography that captured the home life of famous celebrities at the time, capturing the stars in their own quiet intimate moments away from the glamour of Hollywood.
"Sid shot almost every cinema giant of the mid-20th century and pulled off a feat surpassing even that: he captured them unguarded, stripping away the studio and P.R. artifice to find the people hiding underneath."
- Michael Callahan, Vanity Fair
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