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The Iconic Shot: Shirley MacLaine About to make a big splash as an adorable elevator operator in The Apartment (1960), 24-year-old MacLaine pulls a funny face with her "mini-me," 2 1/2-year-old daughter Sachie Parker, during a portrait session with LIFE's Allan Grant. There's nothing deeply meaningful or poignant about it, but the picture (which memorably graced LIFE's cover on February 9, 1959) is simply scrumptious as eye candy -- note the cotton-candy-pink background, the cherry-red of Shirley's pucker, and the gumball-size costume pearls draped whimsically over their heads. (Allan Grant/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) More from Life.com: Best Life covers of all time 20 Worst Life covers Life legends![ugc1357751]()
The Unseen Outtake "Sachie is a ham," her famous mom, also an eager performer, told LIFE. Certainly, they both gave photographer Grant lots of cute material; in this never-seen shot, arguably just as cute as the one that made the cover, mother and daughter go wide-eyed and open-mouthed. (Allan Grant/Time & Life Pictures) More from Life.com: Best Life covers of all time 20 Worst Life covers Life legends![ugc1358221]()
The Iconic Shot: Noel Coward The playwright and composer looks every bit the refined English gentleman in this sophisticated portrait by Loomis Dean, taken in the desert outside Las Vegas, where Coward was performing in a popular cabaret act. The long shadow, the cigarette holder, and his impeccable suit give the image its appropriately stately, mannered air. (Loomis Dean/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) More from Life.com: Best Life covers of all time 20 Worst Life covers Life legends![50334185]()
The Unseen Outtake But this never-published photo, in which Coward gleefully hoists a cocktail in a sort of "cheers" to LIFE's Loomis Dean, is perhaps more illustrative of the true spirit behind the scenes of the shoot. Coward had initially balked at going out into the desert -- "Dear boy, I don't get up until four o'clock in the afternoon," he'd complained to Dean -- but the photographer convinced him to play along by sending over an air conditioned limo . . . with lots of ice and liquor. "Splendid! What an idea!" a suddenly jolly Coward responded. "If only we had a piano!" (Loomis Dean/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) More from Life.com: Best Life covers of all time 20 Worst Life covers Life legends![72432420]()
The Iconic Shot: Audrey Hepburn By the time Audrey Hepburn sat for LIFE photographer Allan Grant, she was Hollywood royalty: Not only had she won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1954, for Roman Holiday, but she had also played aristocrats on film (a princess in Roman Holiday, a countess in War and Peace). And so the look she tossed Grant in this famous portrait -- serious, almost stern -- felt appropriately regal, and the lights in a halo around her head add to her untouchable glow. (Allan Grant/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) More from Life.com: Best Life covers of all time 20 Worst Life covers Life legends![ugc1334541]()
The Unseen Outtake But in this never-before-published image from the same portrait session, Hepburn reveals her Sabrina side -- the bright-eyed, charming, relatable girl that the public adored. And while Grant's iconic photo focused on the contours of Hepburn's face and her long, lovely neck, this frame includes the totems of the star's signature style (see the shawl and the glove). And that smile? As bright as the klieg lights. (Allan Grant/Time & Life Pictures) More from Life.com: Best Life covers of all time 20 Worst Life covers Life legends![ugc1334511]()
The Iconic Shot: Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell During a break on the set of Gentleman Prefer Blondes, photographer Ed Clark catches Marilyn Monroe drinking a Coke and Jane Russell fixing her makeup. At this moment of their careers, both actresses were hotter than hot -- Russell had been a star for years, since her scandalously sexy breakthrough in 1943's The Outlaw, and Monroe was the sizzling It Girl, having months earlier made the cover of LIFE for the first time as "The Talk of Hollywood." Rare was the moment that they were unaware of the camera -- and so what makes Clark's photo so special is its candid nature, the simple observation that at the end of the day, even gorgeous movie stars need a minute to refresh, reapply their lipstick, rest their feet. (Ed Clark/TIME & LIFE Pictures) More from Life.com: Best Life covers of all time 20 Worst Life covers Life legends![ugc1334521]()
The Unseen Outtake Seconds later the mood changes, almost as if Monroe and Russell snapped to attention after hearing Clark's shutter click. Monroe puts down the bottle and looks flirtatiously over her shoulder, Russell straightens her posture, stashes her mirror, and kicks off her scuffed shoes -- and both women flash their A-list smiles. (Ed Clark/TIME & LIFE Pictures) More from Life.com: Best Life covers of all time 20 Worst Life covers Life legends![72431305]()
Marilyn Monroe Outtakes A filmstrip from Alfred Eisenstaedt's classic 1953 shoot with Marilyn Monroe, with the sex symbol hitting three different poses on her Hollywood patio. (Alfred Eisenstaedt/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) More from Life.com: Best Life covers of all time 20 Worst Life covers Life legendsUnseen Photos From Classic LIFE Shoots
Intimate behind the scenes shots from classic LIFE magazine photo shoots.
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- Unseen Photos From Classic LIFE Shoots
