Ron Galella: King of the Paparazzi (15 photos)

For decades, Ron Galella was hardly the most welcome guest at high-profile parties, lurking in wait for stars before they could prepare for the flash of a camera. Yet along the way, he managed to capture hundreds of celebrity shots that went on to become truly iconic.







1. Ron Galella "dated" Jackie Onassis, though it was an utterly one-sided affair. The photographer became obsessed with the former First Lady, stalking her everywhere like a man possessed. Onassis eventually took Galella to court, securing a restraining order that barred the persistent snapper from getting within 100 feet of her. But Galella violated the order repeatedly. When a court later reduced the distance to 25 feet, the paparazzi began carrying a tape measure as a stunt to make sure he didn't accidentally stray too close to his muse.

“Why was I so obsessed with Jackie back then?” he later wondered. “I’ve thought about it. I didn’t have a girlfriend at the time. In a way, she was my girlfriend.”





2. But his persistence paid off. Here is his most famous shot: "Windblown Jackie."

“That’s my Mona Lisa,” the photographer says.

The legendary photo was taken on Madison Avenue in 1971. Galella jumped into a taxi to follow Onassis and snapped the shutter just as the cab driver honked, prompting her to look back. Today, it’s a recognized masterpiece—proof that the line between art, stalking, and invasion of privacy can be paper-thin.

“I don't think she recognized me through the windshield,” Ron admits. “That’s why she’s smiling.”



3. Truman Capote sprawls lazily in a chair—quite possibly drunk—at the legendary Studio 54, which he playfully referred to in Italian as "Cinquantaquattro." Capote is pictured alongside actress Gloria Swanson (right) and Kate Harrington, the daughter of his then-lover John O'Shea. Six years after this photo was taken, Capote died of a drug overdose. His razor-tongued rival, Gore Vidal, famously quipped: "A good career move."



4. Wide-eyed Sophia Loren at the New York premiere of Doctor Zhivago at the Americana Hotel in 1965. The film's producer, Carlo Ponti, initially wanted his wife Loren to star as the female lead, but director David Lean demurred, arguing that she was too tall for the part—and that no one would buy her as a virgin.



5. Roy Halston Frowick, known simply as Halston, was one of the most famous fashion designers of the 1970s and the mastermind behind the minimalist look that dominated New York nightlife for a decade. His creations were worn by Bianca Jagger (center), Liza Minnelli (right), and many other A-listers. Halston was also the designer behind the iconic pillbox hat Jacqueline Kennedy wore to the 1961 presidential inauguration.

“A designer is only as good as the people who wear his clothes,” Halston used to say.

And he was very good.



6. In 1973, Ron Galella pushed Marlon Brando so far that the actor sucker-punched him, breaking his jaw and knocking out five teeth. But Galella was no pushover—after getting his jaw wired shut at the hospital, he was back out shooting that very evening. The next time he went to photograph Brando, he prudently wore a football helmet.



7. Sean Penn’s trouble with Galella began while he was dating Madonna. In 1987—the same year this photo was taken—Penn was arrested for assaulting a photographer on set. Penn was sentenced to 60 days in jail, serving 33. Unrepentant, Penn declared in 2007 that paparazzi deserve every blow they get:

“They should be put in cages where anyone can poke them with a stick for 25 cents.”

Here, Sean Penn and Madonna pose during their second year of marriage, oozing cool behind dark sunglasses, with a smirk playing on Penn's face.



8. Michael Jackson and Brooke Shields riding in a car on their way to a Grammy afterparty in 1993. Jackson had just accepted the Grammy Legend Award from his sister Janet; just months later, he would face allegations of child sexual abuse that would forever tarnish his legacy.

Shields and Jackson first met in 1978, when the actress was just 13, but their bond was far more innocent than the rumors that later swirled around the pop star. At Jackson’s memorial service in 2009, Shields recalled:

“Both of us needed to be adults very early, but when we were together, we were two little kids playing.”

And that is precisely what Galella captured in his shot.



9. In 1973, Ron Galella tracked Steve McQueen to Jamaica, where the actor was filming the prison break movie Papillon. Anxious to keep unauthorized photos of his girlfriend (and future wife) Ali MacGraw out of the tabloids, McQueen granted Galella ten minutes of his time—on the condition that the photographer catch the very next flight off the island. Both men walked away happy with the deal.



10. Bianca Jagger, the epitome of style and grace. Galella snapped her alongside Andy Warhol at a 1978 New York party honoring George Cukor, director of A Star Is Born and My Fair Lady. Warhol often babysat Bianca's daughter, Jade, at The Factory while Bianca was out working the high-society circuit.

“I love Mick and Bianca,” Warhol once said, “but Jade’s more my wavelength. I taught her how to paint, and she taught me how to play Monopoly.”



11. Elizabeth Taylor was one of Galella's favorite targets. In 1969, he paid a security guard $12 to lock him inside a rat-infested Thames warehouse for an entire weekend. Why? The warehouse offered a clear view of Kalizma, the yacht Richard Burton had bought for Taylor. Galella could even hear the couple arguing (they were mid-way through their first marriage at the time).

“They never even saw me,” the photographer boasted.



12. Two megastars attended the 1991 Academy Awards together, sitting side-by-side in the front row. Yet for most of the night, Madonna showered her attention on Warren Beatty, while Michael Jackson spent his evening chatting with Diana Ross.



13. A 16-year-old Brooke Shields pictured with Studio 54 co-owner Steve Rubell (right) and designer Calvin Klein in 1981. Brooke's mother, Teri Shields, can be seen in the background.

Leon Gast, who directed a documentary about Ron Galella, compared him to Muhammad Ali:

“He has that same brash, self-centered attitude. Both were obsessive workaholics, arrogant, full of themselves, but with a certain nobility. There’s something of a true artist in both of them.”



14. When shooting, Galella rarely looked through the viewfinder, choosing instead to lock eyes directly with his subject—a habit caught by Warren Beatty in this 1979 photograph.

Reflecting on his career, Galella says:

“I don't do paparazzi work anymore. I’ve got arthritis and I can’t run.”

Yet his photographs have immortalized these icons forever young—and, more often than not, forever annoyed.