The One and Only Scotty Welborne

Scotty Welbourne was born on May 14, 1907 in North Carolina and by the end of his career he not only photographed great film stars but also became a wonderfully known cinamatographer and director.

The 'mptv.net' says of Welbourne:

Scotty Welbourne replaced Elmer Fryer as department head at Warner Bros. in 1941, photographing many of the studio's newer stars, including Lana Turner, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, Humphery Bogart, and Alexis Smith, as well as Marlene Dietrich and Merle Oberon. (During the shooting of "Fools for Scandal" (1938), he took 686 pictures of Carole Lombard in one day.)

Welbourne worked at Warners into the 1940s, taking photos of studio stars such as Jane Wyman and Bette Davis. 

However, movie buffs may best know Welbourne for his work in the 1950s horror genre -- he handled photography of the underwater sequences for director Jack Arnold's 1955 3-D gem "Revenge Of The Creature." Recalled Ricou Browning, who was in the gill man's suit when filming took place underwater, "The cameraman, Scotty Welbourne, also did some directing under the water. He built the housings for the two 3-D cameras, which were placed beside each other, and they flooded twice, and had to be overhauled overnight to have them ready to go the next day.”
Welbourne believed that the proper use of light and shadow was the answer to most of the photographer's problems and that "the photograph or the photographer must never overshadow the subject in importance [but] must always be of secondary importance to the star." Welbourne left Warner Bros. in 1945 to set up, with Madison Lacy and former MGM public:ity photographer Bud Graybill, the stills department at Enterprise Productions, a short-lived production company that made three or four films, among them "Arch of Triumph"(1948).

He was often a uncredited still photographer for films such as "Public Enemy," "The Sound and the Fury," and "The Creature From the Black Lagoon." 

He passed away on May 25, 1979 shortly after his 72nd birthday in Los Angeles, California.  His works are on such prestigious sites as Conde Nast and Artnet.

Here he is with some of the stars he worked with.

This one is with Joan Leslie on the set of "Cinderella Jones":

 

And here he is with Peggy Diggins:

 

 

He photographed many and here are some of the great artistic pieces he created:

June Travis above.

 

Alexis Smith

 

Humphrey Bogart

and more of Bogie:

 

 

 

 

3 of Carole Lombard

 

2 of Olivia DeHavilland including a cover from Glamour magazine.

 

Janet Chapman on Halloween.

 

Ruth Chatterton

 

Above is DeHavilland again and below are more sultry pics:

 

 

He did a few of Bette Davis below:

 

 

 

 

 

Ingrid Bergman

 

James Cagney

 

Jane Wyman

 

Lauren Bacall and below a rare color one of same:

 

 

 

Andrea King

 

Without watermark below:

 

The great Marlene Dietrich was a subject of a few sessions as suggested above.

 

Glenda Farrell

 

2 of Ida Lapino

 

Rita Hayworth

 

Barbara Stanwyck

 

And the beautiful Ann Sheridan:

 

 

 

The Supreme Hollywood Photography of Elmer Fryer

Elmer Fryer is another Hollywood great who cannot be missed when mentioning the glamour photography of yesteryear.

Fryer was born January 21, 1898 in Springfield, Missouri.  He began working as a photographer in 1924.  When Warner Brothers and First National Studios joined operations in 1929, Fryer replaced Fred Archer as head of the new Warner-First National Stills Department.  During the 1930s he took portraits of Dolores Del Rio, Kay Francis, Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, James Cagney, Errol Flynn, George Brent among other Warner Brothers stars.  Fryer left Warner Brothers in 1941, shortly before his death at age 46 on March 3, 1944.

Fryer is known for his detailed and complex eye for posing his subjects.  He had a wonderful sense of modernist style and fashion.  He made use of the art deco period's elegant shading and shadowing in black and white photography.

Joan Blondell

Alice White

Polly Walters

Bette Davis

Thelma Todd

Lili Damita

Myrna Loy

Marion Davies

Louise Brooks

Loretta Young

Mary Astor

Dolores Del Rio

Constance Bennett

Bebe Daniels

Here is one of Marion Davies that shows many details of the art deco period.

Olivia De Havilland

Here are some photographs of Fryer with his subjects:

With Bette Davis, who he photographed often.

With Jane Wyman

Here is an example of Fryer's embossed stamp:

This is the back of the photo of Davis and Fryer together listed and shown above.

An official back ink stamp.