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GEORGE CHRISTY

Page 6 | November 18, 2016 BEVERLY HILLSBEVERLY HILLS

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“catch me, pluck me shoes.”Dozens and dozens more!

A Cincinnati-bornvisionary, George Hurell rev-olutionized the chiaroscurostyle of portraiture with theglamour girls and slick dudesduring his Hollywood hey-day of the thirties and forties.

Hurrell’s rapturous por-traits include Jean Harlow,Garbo, Rita Hayworth,Veronica Lake, MarleneDietrich, Joan Crawford,known to joke about her

unhappy … she had lost mystudio’s address, and took itout on our staff.”

Mark, 60, comes to uswith a sterling silver legacy,having apprenticed with “lemaitre,” the famous GeorgeHurrell.

“Manners always willout. Jack Lemmon proved tobe a perfect gentlemanwhile waiting and sittingpatiently for his portrait, Icouldn’t ask for anyone bet-ter … Jack was comfortable,helpful, kind, a revelationcompared to celebritieswith their fifteen minutes offame.”

So reveals LosAngeles’ ace por-traitist Mark Viera.

And let’s notoverlook the celebri-ties’ diva attitudes.We’re including guyshere, too.

“Danny Gloverfell asleep in the midstof our photo session.Grace Jones turnedout to be a fun charac-ter. Leslie Mann andJudd Apatow werewonderful. As wasSan Francisco’s popu-lar cabaret artist PeterMinutun.

“ A l t h o u g hRosie O’Donnell was… umm, not verynice. Testy and

Gwen Stefani wowed Red Carpet viewers during

GLAMOUR magazine’s celebration of the 2016

Women of The Year Awards acknowledging

women’s achievement. Event was held in L.A. for

the first time in 25 years at NeueHouse HollywoodAnne SweeneyAmber HeardCaitlyn JennerChelsea Handler

(see ‘GEORGE CHRISTY’ page 16)

George Christy

Janell Spetrino Maria Raveti

Jack Lemmon Grace Jones Alan Nevins

Portrait photographer Mark Viera calls himself “the sor-

cerer’s apprentice,” having worked with the Hollywood

photographer George Hurrell, whose movie star portraits

are legendary. Mark commands a studio in mid-town

Los Angeles – his prices are “surprisingly reasonable.”

Here is a selection of his favorite portraits.

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GEORGE CHRISTY

Page 16 | November 18, 2016 BEVERLY HILLSBEVERLY HILLS

No secret, says Mark,that George l-o-o-o-v-e-d“les girls.”

We owe a debt of grat-itude to interior designerLeonard Stanley, whoinformed us of Mark’sinspired talent and remark-able experience and careerwith “le maitre.”

A Bay Area boyhoodultimately led Mark toSouthern California with itsmovie studios. Notably M-G-M where Dorie Freemanhired Mark as an assistant inthe movie stills department.Did it take long for Mark towallow in the steep film stillfiles at M-G-M? No.

Over time, Mark’s pas-sion for the photographicartistry of Hurell led to the

creation of fifteen hand-some titles that are nowcollectors’ choices.Classics the likes ofHurrell’s HollywoodPortraits, GeorgeHurrell’s HollywoodPortraits, plus others.

Mark’s latest, Intothe Dark: The Hidden

World of Film Noir 1941-1950, is a gem. A stunningrendezvous with the Whoand the Who in fim noir.Ava Gardner and BurtLancaster in a scene fromThe Killers graces the cover.A teaser for the heady boun-ty of busty blondes andshadowy Johnnies within.Into The Dark serves as anideal gift for the holidays –or whenever – for cineasteswho will want to gift othercineastes, who then will giftother cineaste chums, andon and on.

Hey, why not a morepersonal gift created byMaestro Mark. A portrait ofyour own. Or of your famiy,pets, etc.

Mark promises his

prices are “surprisingly rea-sonable.”

About his portraits, hesays, “I look at the client’sface, and instinctively findthe best angle and best pose.I next create the best light-ing. For cheeks to glow andeyes to sparkle.Highlighting the hair, ofcourse. I’m always warmand reassuring to settle theclient in a relaxed mood.”Shall we mention Mark is asgood as it gets with retouch-ing!

Mark Viera’s StarliightStudio awaits in midtownLos Angeles. His phonenumber is 213-383-2448.

On another note,Washingtonian insider

Stephan Gerhardt reportsthat the leading hotels in ournation’s capitol haven’t losttime in jacking up roomrates for the January 20 pres-idential inauguration ofDonald Trump. Four dayminimum with top fees sur-facing around $1,899 for adeluxe king room. Many ofthe hotels are sold out.

Meanwhile, ABC newsanchor GeorgeStephanopoulos and wife Alivowed they are moving toAustralia with their two off-spring if their candidate did-n’t win.

Will George now giveup his multi-million dollarcontract with ABC? Havehe and Ali booked passage?Online atwww.bhcourier.com/category/george-christy

Angela Sarafyan

Christine Lagarde Demi Lovato Freida Pinto Jenna Dewan Kat Graham Shonda Rhimes

Keke Palmer Laura Dern Monique Lhuillier Rashida Jones Rowan Blanchard ZendayaRachel Zoe

Tracee Ellis RossSimone Biles

GEORGE CHRISTY(Continued from page 6)

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