Bruno Bernard

Bruno Bernard
Bruno Bernard
Background information
Born	Feb 2, 1912 Berlin, Germany
Died	Jun 3, 1987 - age  74 Malibu, California, U.S. Cancer
Children:	Susan Bernard ↗ (Playboy model)
Relatives:	Joshua John Miller ↗ (Playwright & grandson)
Occupation:	Photographer

Bruno Bernard Sommerfeld (✦February 2, 1912 – †June 3, 1987) also known as Bernard of Hollywood, was an American photographer best known for pin-up and glamour photography of Marilyn Monroe and others.

Early life

Bruno Bernard Sommerfeld was born into poverty on February 2, 1912, in Berlin, Germany. He was put in an orphanage by his parents, who could not afford to support him. In 1923, his parents gave him a Rolleiflex camera, which led to a lifelong interest in photography.

He attended Kiel University, where, in 1934, he earned a doctorate in criminal psychology. He became the general secretary of a Jewish youth organization, which led to his name appearing on a Gestapo hit list. In 1937, he fled to America from Nazi Germany, claiming to German authorities that he was leaving the country to continue his graduate studies. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he planned to continue his education but soon became interested in the arts. In 1940, he became a directorial apprentice at the Reinhardt School of the Theatre, opened by Max Reinhardt on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Career in Hollywood

Unable to get a job as a director, Bernard returned to his interest in photography. In 1938 he set up a darkroom in the basement of his Los Angeles apartment. Inspired by his background in psychology, what he learned about directing and collaboration with Alberto Vargas, Bernard developed a unique portrait style that he called the "posed candid," a style that evolved into what is now known as "pin-up" photography. Bernard preferred a moderate use of artificial light. He preferred natural light like the sun at the beach and sometimes added a flash to his light concept. He never had any formal training in photography and credited his success to "two good teachers, trial and error".

By 1940, Bernard's basement darkroom had become his first studio. He started out taking photos of the wives and children of the directors and producers he had come to know through his apprenticeship. As he began making money, he opened a proper studio at 9055 Sunset Blvd. As word spread, he soon came to the attention of agents and other Hollywood professionals who sent actresses his way for photo shoots. He became known as the "Bernard of Hollywood." Bernard is credited with first photographing Marilyn Monroe at the Racquet Club in Palm Springs, California, in 1947, when she was still Norma Jeane. She is said to have told Bernard, "Remember, Bernie, you started it all".

In the early 1950s, Bernard fought obscenity charges that ended with a case in the U. S. Supreme Court. As part of his defense, he submitted a letter from then-General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was a fan of Bernard's pinup photography. The letter thanks Bernard for the morale-building effect of his pinups during World War II. Bernard's daughter, Susan Bernard, has made the case that the pinup style popularized by Bernard and his friend Vargas was "celebrating and empowering women rather than exploiting them".

In the 1960s, he moved back to Berlin. He was a photojournalist for the German magazine Der Spiegel for the Eichmann Trial in Israel.

In 1984, Bernard became the first still photographer to be honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with a 50-year retrospective of his work. In 1999, his photo "Marilyn in White" of Monroe in her wind-blown dress from the movie The Seven Year Itch (1955) was selected as the "Symbol of the Century" by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The same photograph was also chosen by the International Center of Photography as one of the "20 Unforgettable Photographs".

In the 1980s Bernard was living in Palm Springs and writing his memoirs. He died of cancer on June 3, 1987, at the age of 75, in Los Angeles, California.

Obituary

BRUNO BERNARD

New York Times- Published: June 5, 1987

LEAD: Bruno Bernard, a photographer known as Bruno of Hollywood, died of cancer Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 75 years old.

Bruno Bernard, a photographer known as Bruno of Hollywood, died of cancer Wednesday (June 5th, 1987) in Los Angeles. He was 75 years old.

Mr. Bernard, who photographed such stars as Clark Gable, Tyrone Power and Elizabeth Taylor, was credited with introducing Marilyn Monroe to Jimmy Hyde, the agent who got her a contract with 20th Century-Fox.

Remember Bernie, you started it all, the actress wrote in one of Mr. Bernard's 10 books on photography. One of his best-known pictures was of Miss Monroe in a windblown skirt. He was honored for his work last year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Mr. Bernard is survived by a daughter, Susan, and a grandson, Joshua Miller.

• Works by Bernard of Hollywood
• 

  Photo of Marilyn Monroe
  by Bruno Bernard

• 

  Photo of Peg Entwhistle
  by Bruno Bernard

A Personal Note from Robin

Susan Bernard (Bruno's daughter) has written a wonderful book, Bernard of Hollywood: The Ultimate Pin-Up Book published by Taschen

From Amazon.com

Bruno Bernard has been called the "Rembrandt of Photography" and the "King of Glamour". Though he also photographed male luminaries such as John Wayne, Gregory Peck, and Elvis Presley, Bernard of Hollywood made his name doing portraits of female stars and starlets of the 1950s such as Anita Ekberg, Jayne Mansfield, Brigitte Bardot, and Marilyn Monroe. He fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s, migrating to California and eventually establishing himself in Hollywood. By the 1940s, he was one of the most sought-after photographers there, with countless celebrities and hopefuls visiting his Sunset Boulevard studio to have their portraits taken. Bernard is remembered as the man who immortalized some of the century's greatest stars and mastered the art of pin-up photography better than any one else. This book is a testament to his long and illustrious career.

The editor

Susan Bernard is the author of six books, including the best-selling Bernard of Hollywood's Marilyn and Joyous Motherhood. President of Bernard of Hollywood, she preserves, exhibits, and publishes her late father's work. She is also an actress and a producer. At 16, she starred in the Russ Meyer cult classic Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!. With Whoopi Goldberg, she co-produced The Mao Game, a film based on her son Joshua Miller's first novel. A resident of Los Angeles and New York, she is working on a novel and a film about her father's life.

< ISBN:3822862177 Buy it from Amazon.com >

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Bruno Bernard at the Internet Movie Database

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