Frank Worth grew up in New York City. Fascinated by the great film stars of the era, he moved to Hollywood as a teenager. As a self-taught photographer, he gained access to the city's renowned film studios in 1939. He soon established personal friendships with some of the most popular actors in the dream factory. Among his first celebrity portraits was a series of Rita Hayworth. On May 6, 1950, he filmed the first wedding of Elizabeth Taylor to hotelier Conrad Nicholson Hilton, Jr. James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Sammy Davis, Jr. soon followed, photographing them in black-and-white, mostly in a style completely atypical for the time, and in very private moments.
These images were made possible by the profound trust placed in him by the film greats, who promised never to publish his pictures. As a result, the photographer ultimately led a life of poverty. Only posthumously was a collection of approximately 10,000 negatives discovered in his estate, in a nursing home in Los Angeles. His oeuvre thus established him as one of the most important photographic artists of his time.
