My journey ends here...
ZERBE Jerome
Date of birth : July 24, 1904, Euclid Village, Ohio.
Date of death : August 19, 1988, New York.
Profession photographer (
,
).
Story
His father, Jerome Brainard Zerbe, was the president of a coal company and a prominent citizen in nearby Cleveland, where the family resided.Jerome was driven to public school in the family limousine, which got him beaten up by bullies.
He was sent to the prestigious Salisbury School in Salisbury, Connecticut. It was there that he took an interest in drawing, art and photography.
He graduated from Yale University in 1928, where he was editor of campus humor magazine, The Yale Record. While an undergrad, he had a knack for getting around the Prohibition laws, and always being the guy who knew where the booze and parties were : he became a supreme social networker. He gaiied important social prominence in New Haven, which would serve him well in New York, Paris and London.
After graduation, he went out to Hollywood to try his hand at drawing portraits of the famous residents.
He was befriended by a young Gary cooper. This led to quickly becoming friends with Hedda Hopper, Cary Grant, Errol Flynn, Randolph Scott, Marion Davis and Paulette Goddard. It did not take long for him to put down his paintbrush and pick up a camera. He photographed numerous stars in Hollywood's Golden Age and some of the hopefuls.
During the Depression, he landed his first major job, as art director of Parade
magazine, which was headquartered in Cleveland. This was where he began
his career of setting up portraits of the upper crust.
He persuaded the wealthy local residents that it would help them to be
photographed at their parties, which was not simply done at the time.
He convinced them that it would assist the charity balls and
fundraisers the leading society matrons were hosting; he shot hundreds
of debutantes, brides, newlyweds and formal dinners in North America
and Europe.
When he arrived in New York, he was in the right place at the right time. Prohibition had just ended and nightlife was booming. The city had seven daily newspapers and three press associations. They all needed society photographs. Zerbe got himself hired by the Rainbow Room, a New York night-club, to set up fashionable dinner parties and photograph the guests.
He was shocked that at the height of the Depression, unemployed readers craved to look at photos of high-society types dressed in evening clothes and drinking champagne.
Around 1934, he was in business in Manhattan. He was the staff photographer for both the Rainbow Room and a
bustling night-club, El Morocco (
). He said that from 1933 to 1938,
he spent most nights from 9 PM to 4 AM, at El Morocco eating, drinking
and taking pictures. El Morocco was considered by many people as the
classiest night-club in town, and looked down upon the Stork Club
regulars as "tacky". El Morocco was the place to be seen, particularly
if you just came from a Broadway show.There is one way to tell a Zerbe photo of El Morocco : the distinctive background. The club had imitation zebra skin fabric coverings on all banquettes and couches; the walls looked like a zebra-striped jungle. With the striped black-and-white background, it was obvious to anyone looking at it - without reading a caption - that it was taken in El Morocco.
World War II prompted Zerbe to enlist in the Navy. He was able to bring his camera and became the official photographer for Admiral Nimitz. He found a way to travel with the stars that flew overseas to entertain the troops.
After the war, he took up photographing café society with gusto.
He was a charming man who was able to rub shoulders with dukes, duchesses, visiting dignitaries.
He traveled to France to photograph estates and country homes-and the residents as well.
In the 1930s, he was the partner of the society columnist and writer Lucius Beebe (
,
).
In the 1940s, he worked for the Hearst newspaper chain, and wrote a Sunday column for the Sunday Mirror to more than 10 years.
From 1949 to 1974, he was the society editor for Town & Country magazine. He traveled around the globe photogtaphing big celebrities events.
He had several "coffee table" photo books published.
Link with Marilyn
He took her in picture for Look magazine, on July 5, 1960 for the release of « Let’s Make
Love »
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