(1918 – 2013)<\/p>\n
Photographer, Lani Carlson never went anywhere without his cameras (including a David White Stereo Realist 3D camera) and his press credentials. \u00a0Oh, the other thing, he absolutely never hesitated to take advantage of any opportunity to get the right photograph.\u00a0 At any given celebrity event Lani would step forward and say \u201cChicago Tribune, I have to get this picture out to the AP tonight.\u201d \u00a0According to Lani, celebrities and publicity agents, always eager for press, obliged his every requests.\u00a0 The thing about Lani and what nobody realized at the time was that Lani Carlson wasn\u2019t employed by the\u00a0Chicago Tribune, or working for the\u00a0Associated Press, hell, he wasn\u2019t even a professional photographer. \u00a0Lani actual profession was working\u00a0as a sound engineer in Hollywood. \u00a0What worked in Lani’s favor was that he had incredible access to events, which in many instances he was working as a sound technician.<\/p>\n
He did have an authentic and official press credential given to him by a friend and the moxie to always step forward with urgency and command that his subjects pose for a photo.\u00a0 As a sound engineer Lani worked for ABC television, Hilton and Caesars casino in Las Vegas, and Capitol Records and worked with some of the most talented stars of the day, including Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and Ann Margaret.<\/p>\n
Lani photographed Hollywood royalty including Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, Liz Taylor, Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, Ernest Borgnine, Yul Brenner, Doris Day, Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn while backstage at several Academy Awards ceremonies, the Beatles in 1965 at a press conference promoting the release of the film\u00a0Help!. All of these photographs are gems in themselves, but according to Lani the photographs that are the crown jewels of his collection are the photographs he took of a young up and coming Marilyn Monroe at a publicity party in 1952.\u00a0 Using his cover story, the 20th Century Fox publicity man gave Lani carte blanche and complete access to Marilyn throughout the night.\u00a0 Ironically, Lani\u2019s photos were never published in any newspaper but sat in a shoe box and remained unseen by the public for close to 60 years.<\/p>\n
On August 3, 1952, Fox hosted a party at famed bandleader, Ray Anthony\u2019s home in Sherman Oaks, CA, to celebrate the release of the song \u201cMarilyn\u201d written by Ervin Drake and Jimmy Shirl and recorded by Anthony.\u00a0 At the time of the party Marilyn was completing \u201cNiagara\u201d, the film which help catapult her to international success.\u00a0 Prior to Niagara, Marilyn had only played smaller, yet significant, roles in such films\u00a0 as The Asphalt Jungle\u00a0(1950),\u00a0All About Eve\u00a0(1950) and\u00a0Monkey Business (1952).<\/p>\n
Prior to his passing in 2013, Lani recalled the event as if it was yesterday, Marilyn wore the iconic pink cocktail dress she wears in Niagara and whenever Marilyn would slightly perspire, she would be whisked away to a wardrobe tent to quickly change into a fresh identical copy of the dress. \u00a0Hollywood lore has Marilyn arriving at the event via the helicopter; however, this is not true, Marilyn arrived in a car and only posed for the photos by the helicopter.<\/p>\n
These previously unavailable and stunning color and B&W photographs are available exclusively by Limited Runs.<\/p>\n
See more of Lani Carlson\u2019s photography\u00a0click here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n