Shirley MacLaine, Manhattan NYC, 1991. Shirley is one of the most amazing actresses—I knew her work way before I ever worked with her myself. Movies like The Apartment, Irma la Douce, or any of those beautiful early 60s black and whites. She has this amazing mind–always thinking about woowoo, spiritual, other worldy things. She was also the only female member of the Vegas rat pack with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. I mean, that just says it all. She was always up for it with all the boys, no matter what that meant.When we first worked together on a magazine shoot, I was taking photos of her in the dressing room in hair and makeup. We were just chatting, getting to know each other, and I kept shooting as we talked. I got these shots of her reflected in her little makeup mirror–that shot stands out as one of my more favorite images–and it was before we even officially started.She was collaborative, not just in her actions, but from a visionary creative standpoint. She understood the camera–she was a pro. We did another shoot and she wore this pink coat and a hat and funky shoes–she had fun with it. Shirley was a rarity in actresses, she wasn’t self-centered–she didn’t care about her vanity as much as she cared about creating beautiful images. Shirley was also the person standing next to me in my famous Elizabeth Taylor photograph–she egged Elizabeth on until she gave us both the finger.Later on, I was sponsored by Mamiya cameras, and she ended up doing a picture of me shooting a picture of her, by us in a mirror. It ended up being the ad campaign for the camera. Every day with her was fun, and so on her birthday, I think about her, her wonderfully long career, and my collaboration with such a true artist.
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