"Frank talked about all the people he knew and I was kind of numb to that talk because most people in L.A. talk like that," Solomon says. Upon seeing the photos, "I was amazed because he actually knew all the people he said he knew." A limited selection of the photos was exhibited in London and Beverly Hills several years ago, but now International Images, the company Solomon founded, is making individual prints and limited-edition box sets of Worth's photos available for purchase, with plans for an exhibition at Hollywood's ArcLight Cinemas this fall and a store to open in London in the future. Over the next five years, International Images will stagger the release of the top 500 of Worth's images.
Brooklyn-born-and-raised, Worth developed an interest in photography at a young age, and just out of high school he went to work for William Randolph Hearst's International News Service, capturing shots of celebrities as they disembarked at New York City's Grand Central Terminal. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1930s and joined the Hollywood Photographers Guild, his press pass granting him entree not just to the premieres of films like Rear Window and My Fair Lady, but to the ritziest parties and nightclubs around town, where his charm endeared him to celebs happy to see a friendly face at events, at times even requesting his presence. Yes, Worth had a flair for getting into the right place at the right time, but he also created some striking compositions, impressive for a self-taught photographer. "He had a keen eye for beauty and a remarkable talent for translating that beauty onto film," Mamie Van Doren once said. "All of us who were photographed by Frank owe him a huge debt." Indeed, Worth liked to help young actors that he thought showed promise; he photographed Monroe and Hayworth at the beginning of their careers and introduced Jayne Mansfield around town, helping her to land a part in 1954's Female Jungle. "She never forgot it and would try and seek me out whenever she attended a premiere or a party in order to give me her best look of the evening," Worth was quoted as saying in 1987. He befriended Dean in the parking lot of Schwab's Pharmacy, mistaking him for a struggling actor and unaware that Dean's film East of Eden was about to open. Dean appreciated Worth's genuineness and invited him onto the set of Giant, where he snapped photos of Dean, Taylor and Rock Hudson in playful lasso practice. Next Page
