Sid Avery

Sid Avery (1918–2002) was an American photographer celebrated for his candid portraits of Hollywood’s Golden Age stars. After serving briefly in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II, he settled in Los Angeles and began shooting for movie studios and fan magazines. Rather than staged publicity stills, Avery favored informal, behind‑the‑scenes moments—humorous snapshots of Marilyn Monroe rehearsing lines, Kirk Douglas relaxing between takes, or Doris Day sharing a laugh with co‑stars.

In the 1950s and ’60s, Avery freelanced for publications like Photoplay and The Saturday Evening Post, and later co‑founded the editorial photography agency Motion Picture and Television Photo Archive to preserve studio archives and personal collections. His work has appeared in retrospectives such as “Behind the Scenes of Hollywood” at the Academy Museum, and remains in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Avery’s images continue to define an era, reminding viewers that even the most glamorous icons have a relaxed, human side.