BILL ANDERSON PHOTOGRAPHY

From the Collection of Palm Springs Art Museum

Bill Anderson, Rock Hudson, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

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Rock Hudson

Bill Anderson, Rock Hudson, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

The work of celebrity photographer Bill Anderson (1923-1971) captures the emergence of Palm Springs as a Hollywood playground during the mid-twentieth century.

Anderson first took up the camera while a photographic technician in the United States Navy during World War II. Following the war, he studied the more formal and aesthetic visual language of photography as it was being taught by Ansel Adams at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena. After his studies, Anderson entered the Los Angeles photographic studio of Bruno Bernard, known more popularly as “Bernard of Hollywood.”

Ronda Fleming

Bill Anderson, Rhonda Fleming, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Hugh O’Brian and secretary

Bill Anderson, Hugh O’Brian and secretary, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Seeking to escape the Nazi regime, Bernard had immigrated to Los Angeles in 1937, setting up celebrity portrait studios on Sunset Boulevard and then in downtown Palm Springs, where Anderson joined him. The Palm Springs Racquet Club provided them with exclusive poolside access to the famous movie personalities whose photographs were then featured in the Club's newsletters. Following his work as Bernard’s partner, Anderson purchased the business and archive in 1950, operating a studio on Palm Canyon drive until his death in 1971.

Charles Farrell, Patrice Wymore and Errol Flynn

Bill Anderson, Charles Farrell, Patrice Wymore and Errol Flynn, c 1950s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Mickey Hargitay, Jayne Mansfield and daughter

Bill Anderson, Mickey Hargitay, Jayne Mansfield and daughter, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Anderson created memorable photographs of the Hollywood crowd, in both private and more public settings centered around swimming, tennis, golf, vocal entertainment, and other leisure activities. In mostly informal poses, he captured prominent celebrity personalities such as Judy Garland, Rock Hudson, Jayne Mansfield, William Powell, Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, Liberace, Dinah Shore, William Holden, Kirk Douglas, Robert Wagner, Tab Hunter, Ava Gardner, and Frank Sinatra.

Jack Benny, Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen

Bill Anderson, Jack Benny, Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Liberace

Bill Anderson, Liberace, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Groucho Marx and friend

Bill Anderson, Groucho Marx and friend, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

His signature style set his subjects against the breathtaking beauty of the mountain and desert scenery, meant to add an exotic glamour befitting the Hollywood mythos and a lifestyle associated with the movie industry. In addition to the Racquet Club, Anderson’s clients included the Palm Springs Tennis Club, Palm Springs Life magazine, the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce, and the many prestigious vacation resorts that rapidly developed during the 1950s. Suggesting a life of glamorous leisure available to everyone visiting Palm Springs, Anderson’s photographs capture the year-round indoor-outdoor lifestyle facilitated by the area’s sunny climate.

Kirk Douglas and sons

Bill Anderson, Kirk Douglas and sons, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

George Montgomery and Dinah Shore

Bill Anderson, George Montgomery and Dinah Shore, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Ronald & Nancy Reagan and Edward G. Robinson

Bill Anderson, Ronald & Nancy Reagan and Edward G. Robinson, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Mickey Rooney

Bill Anderson, Mickey Rooney, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Not only Hollywood stars, but famous designers and architects made Palm Springs a destination. Anderson photographed many of their homes, which are now associated with the city’s midcentury modernist ethos. These included Albert Frey’s home for renowned industrial designer Raymond Loewy, and homes by E. Stewart Williams for wealthy entrepreneur H. J. Bligh and Seattle hoteliers William and Marjorie Edris, among others.

Anne and Kirk Douglas

Bill Anderson, Anne and Kirk Douglas, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Tony Curtis

Bill Anderson, Tony Curtis, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Spencer Tracy and friend

Bill Anderson, Spencer Tracy and friend, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

In 1975, Anderson’s widow, Dorothy Anderson, donated the entire contents of his studio, which consists of over 30,000 negatives, contact sheets, and a selection of vintage prints, along with the copyright to his complete photographic output to the Palm Springs Art Museum. Many of his photographs have been featured in museum exhibitions devoted to celebrity images.

Jerry Lewis

Bill Anderson, Jerry Lewis, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Gene Tierney

Bill Anderson, Gene Tierney, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

In addition, his photographs for the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce and local real estate companies were featured in the museum’s 2012 exhibition Backyard Oasis: The Swimming Pool in Southern California Photography 1945-1982, an exhibition about swimming pool culture in Southern California. Featured here in this online exhibition is just a small sampling from this important gift to the museum’s collection.

Brenda Marshall and William Holden

Bill Anderson, Brenda Marshall and William Holden, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Rock Hudson and friend

Bill Anderson, Rock Hudson and friend, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Judy Garland and Mona Freeman

Bill Anderson, Judy Garland and Mona Freeman, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood

Bill Anderson, Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Jane Powell

Bill Anderson, Jane Powell , c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Robert Stack and wife Rosemarie

Bill Anderson, Robert Stack and wife Rosemarie, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum

Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer

Bill Anderson, Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum