Lost Photos From a Legendary Hollywood Archive

When photo archivist Michael Ochs brokered a deal to offload his sprawling collection of 20th century iconography to Getty Images in 2007, neither seller nor buyer knew absolutely everything that was included in the transaction. Ochs had a decades-long reputation as the ultimate source of rock ‘n’ roll imagery, but his collection, at the time of its sale, included 3 million vintage prints, proof sheets and negatives. Many hadn’t been seen in decades, and others, presumably, never at all — particularly some shots of Old Hollywood, obtained in countless acquisitions over the decades that built up the Michael Ochs Archive.

“The Earl Leaf collection alone was over 100,000 negatives,” Ochs says of the late beatnik photographer, who shot many unknowns (Marilyn Monroe, Clint Eastwood) before they blew up and Leaf went on to become the house photographer for The Beach Boys.

Getty has scanned, edited, captioned and digitized nearly 400,000 images from the collection since the acquisition, a testament to Ochs’ early awareness that even unassuming images are worth saving. “When I worked for Columbia Records in publicity, I was shocked to see them throwing away old photographs, so I just started taking stuff out of the trash,” he says, still amused that other people’s carelessness led to his unexpected career of hunting down discarded images and buying other collections — including a particularly large one from Tiger Beat publisher Laufer Media. “I invited people to use the photos for free. But, in 1977, Dick Clark sent me a check for $1,000 for giving him some, and I turned it into my business.”

This story first appeared in the April 24 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.