25 Amazing Photos of Celebrities During the 1950s and 1960s

Sir Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) is one of the most celebrated British portrait photographers of the Twentieth century and is renowned for his images of elegance, glamour and style. His influence on portrait photography was profound and lives on today in the work of many contemporary photographers including David Bailey and Mario Testino.

Seeking to pursue his interest in photography, Beaton sent photos to editors and fell in with the Bright Young Things, London’s bohemian crowd. He was eventually hired as a staff photographer for Vanity Fair and Vogue, where he developed a unique style of posing sitters with unusual backgrounds. Beaton published his first collection of works in 1930 with The Book of Beauty, and his fame grew to the point where he was tapped to photograph the wedding of the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Warfield in 1937 and Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953.

Cecil Beaton was a favorite photographer of celebrities and aristocrats. His famous subjects included leading ladies such as Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly and Audrey and Katharine Hepburn.