Ray Harryhausen

June 29, 1920 - May 7, 2013

The passing of a legend, the end of an era. It's somewhat ironic that when Ray concluded his career in 1981 with Clash of the Titans, his work was somewhat regarded as "old fashioned" in some circles, yet nowadays with the proliferation of CGI in which so many action pictures tend to have a slick, homogenous look, Ray's work still holds up. His films are remembered clearly and distinctly, and many of us can cite the first time we ever saw a Ray Harryhausen movie. And, for many of us, his films prompted an interest in art, animation, special effects and even scientific disciplines like paleontology. He left us with a rich legacy of imagination and artistry that is inspirational to this day.

The above photo is one of my favorite images, first seen in the March, 1959 issue of Argosy magazine (below). The article by Dolph Sharp was one of the first full features on Ray and his work in the mainstream press, and portions were later quoted by Forry Ackerman in the 3-part "Son of Kong" series on Ray in Famous Monsters of Filmland. The Argosy issue shows up on eBay from time to time, and is a highly desirable Harryhausen collectible.

The photos were taken by William Woodfield, a celebrity photographer known at the time for having photographed the semi-nude Marilyn Monroe on the set of her last (unfinished) film Something's Got to Give. He was also part of the original writing team on TV's Mission: Impossible TV series and directed The Hypnotic Eye in 1960. Woodfield told me in 1999 that, unfortunately, the negatives of the Argosy shoot with Ray were all delivered back to the agency or publisher (he couldn't remember which), so their whereabouts are unknown (even they even still exist at all).