ALLAN GRANT

Allan Grant was a renowned LIFE magazine photographer whose lens captured both the glittering world of show business and the gravity of history’s defining moments. A native of New York City, Grant originally dreamed of becoming an aeronautical engineer, but a teenage trade—a model airplane for a Kodak camera—set him on a different path, one that would leave a permanent mark on American photojournalism.

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Joining LIFE as a staff photographer in 1947 after a freelance cover in 1945, Grant remained with the magazine through the mid-1960s. During that time, he became known for his winning portraits of Hollywood stars, bringing a cool appraisal and affectionate humanity to his subjects. His work made celebrities like Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly appear as approachable as everyday people. His good looks and natural charisma also made him a popular figure in Hollywood, with former LIFE managing editor Dick Stolley recalling him as “very handsome and glamorous—two virtues that made him popular in Hollywood.”

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Yet Grant was much more than a celebrity photographer. He proved himself a deeply capable newsman, covering historic events with remarkable sensitivity and immediacy. He famously captured the last photo shoot with Marilyn Monroe just weeks before her death in 1962, and in a remarkable journalistic coup, secured the first intimate photographs of Marina Oswald mere hours after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. His earlier work documented atomic bomb tests in the Nevada desert, which helped ordinary citizens comprehend the terrifying new realities of the atomic age, Howard Hughes' legendary 1947 flight of the "Spruce Goose," and even Richard Nixon battling the flames atop his home during the devastating Bel-Air fire of 1961.

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After his tenure at LIFE, Grant transitioned into documentary filmmaking, earning three Emmy nominations for his educational work, including What Color Is the Wind?, a moving story about twin boys first featured in a LIFE article titled “Only One Twin Can See”.

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Reflecting on his own legacy in a 1990s interview, Grant described himself simply and confidently: "I would say a good one, for starters. I stayed with LIFE for a long time. I was very versatile; I did everything."

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Allan Grant passed away on February 1, 2008, at his home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, from Parkinson’s-related pneumonia.  Throughout his career, Grant brought a human dimension to stories that could have otherwise seemed remote or overwhelming. Allan’s work remains a vibrant testament to a time when photojournalists roamed freely across the glamorous and turbulent stages of history—and brought back images that still resonate today.