Laszlo Willinger was a prominent theatrical photographer in 1930s Berlin and Vienna before the rise of Nazism forced him to emigrate. When he was hired at M-G-M in 1937, the studio used his arrival as an excuse to get rid of both Ted Allan and George Hurrell (who was shooting M-G-M players at his own studio). Willinger proved to be far more than a fill-in for his illustrious predecessors. He brought continental flair and intelligence to the M-G-M publicity department, making startlingly original portraits of Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Greer Garson, Lana Turner, Ingrid Bergman, Hedy Lamarr, and Joan Crawford. He left Metro in 1944 to work from his own studio, later shooting headshots of a young Marilyn Monroe.