Among the most sought-after photographers of the stars, whose multi-phased career encompassed Old and New Hollywood and advertising and editorial work for America’s top corporations and publications, George Hurrell made his mark early by re-inventing the celebrity still. Trained as a painter, he began his switch to photography by taking what he called “social portraits” of the high society of Laguna Beach. MGM noticed his work; by 1930, he had joined the studio as head portrait photographer. He left MGM in 1932 to open his own studio, remaining independent for most of the rest of his career. Ever adaptive to the look and technology of the age, Hurrell ranged from producing highly glamorized, black-and-white portraits of stars like Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford to contemporary, color pictures of the famous actors, models, and musicians of the fierce and fabulous 1980s.