Sometime after of Iowa-born portrait photographer Melbourne Spurr arrived in Hollywood in 1917, he got his big break when he impressed Mary Pickford. By the mid 1920s, he was one of the most in-demand celebrity photographers. In 1933, he opened a new studio at 3986 Wilshire Blvd, and obviously he knew the value of advertising. Out front of his place, he erected this huge sign. When this photo was taken, he filled it with photos he’d taken of beauties featured in a film called “Young and Beautiful” which came out in September 1934. (The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers, which honored 13 young actresses each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom.)
The auto-colorizer did a pretty good job bringing this photo to life.
The house is now long gone and in its place stands this apartment building. This image is from July 2022.
Why do you suppose this photographer’s name is not as well known as George Hurrell?
Because Hurrell and all the others we know about worked for specific studios and shot photos of A-list stars that appeared in national magazine. Spurr didn’t go that route so he isn’t as well-known.