Little Theatre curtain call

ZZ 0 EW

ZZ 0 BY

Stunt casting

This set of images is noticed at the very end of Ed Fury’s ZZ catalogue, when he appeared in a show with Don Fuller. (I have been unable to pinpoint which one, but Bob Mizer talks about both men working in “little theatre” in Los Angeles.) 

Several of the actors and actresses in what appears to be the curtain call were photographed with the same stage prop, perhaps a reference of either the show CAROUSEL or the Carousel Theatre (also known as the Moroccan Theatre, where Fuller appeared in PICNIC).

 

Ed Holovchik, early and late

Ed Fury

Filming “A Slight Case of Larceny”

Athletic Model Guild on display

The grounds of the Athletic Model Guild campus are such a feature of AMG photography that I thought it would be interesting to look at early studio images to see when and how it was introduced. 

Since Bob Mizer did not immediately leave his studio to work outside, it is unsurprising that the first months of AMG production feature some identifiable interior features, like the flooring in Mizer’s office. Most of the early interiors are dressed to obscure their individuality, though: they could be anywhere.

The earliest exterior sessions were published in albums and catalogues D, F, and G. The first AMG settings I can confidently identify appear in Album ZQ (July 1950) and the ZP catalogue (initially published in June 1950; the photos of Bob Schwartz were likely published later). In any case, the images — of what is today sometimes called “Mount Mizer” — are not particularly notable, save as the earliest AMG exteriors.*

Indeed, the remaining album and catalogue photos of Leonard Chambers, Henry Lenz, and Ed Holovchik [Ed Fury] also utilize Mount Mizer. Up through late 1951, then, Bob Mizer published no images of the Athletic Model Guild campus as we would come to know it … other than the ubiquitous Mount Mizer itself, which could be undressed as bare concrete or dressed in seasonal costume.

*I should really add that there are a quantity of earlier album and catalogue images of exterior settings, perhaps at AMG, but they lack any sort identifiable features: one sun drenched stucco wall resembles another.

Later Ed Fury

Ed Fury in Bel Air

This image is credited both to AMG and Richard Fontaine’s Apollo, from a film called DAY OF FURY (1953). 

More first impressions

To wrap up my occasional series on first appearances in early AMG albums, here are some of the most prominent of those débuts. 

Bob Delmonteque was still active in the 2010s.

Wally Shillcutt and Tabby Anderson were photographed by many studios — perhaps it was Kovert of Hollywood which led them to Athletic Model Guild.

Henry Lenz was Mr. Muscle Beach in 1952, a year or so after his work for AMG was published.

Like some of the others on this list, Rupert Edmund Holovchik — Ed Fury (1928-2023) — worked with other photographers. As was true of Mizer’s first model, Fury’s sessions with AMG spanned years.

Back to Muscle Beach

Billy Hawkins

Richard Du Bois

Ed Fury

Shirts Optional 4

Leonard Chambers dual

Bob McCune and Chuck Rybonski

Ed Bowersox

Pat Silbecki and Ralph Tucker

Ed Holovchik

Rebranded as Ed Fury