Angus Rowland Mcbean

Place: Monmouth

Born: 1904

Death: 1990

Biography:

Angus McBean was a Welsh theatre and surrealist photographer. He began his career as a mask-maker and scenery designer before turning to full-time theatre photography. McBean is best known for his portraits of Vivien Leigh, Audrey Hepburn, and The Beatles. However, he considered his finest achievement to be recording the works of William Shakespeare. Throughout his 40-year career, he captured over 160 different productions of Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon or London. McBean's photographs were planned to be brought together in print from the archives of the Royal Shakespeare Company after his death. His intention was fulfilled with a book titled 'Shakespeare by McBean,' which presents a dazzling array of his glamorous images taken at the Stratford theatre between 1945-1962. The book includes every one of Shakespeare's 37 plays and features many of the period's greatest theatrical names, including Olivier, Gielgud, Scofield, Burton, Quayle, Redgrave, Richardson, Ashcroft, and Evans. McBean was also known for his 'romance through the lens' with Vivien Leigh, whom he photographed on stage and in the studio for almost every performance until her death nearly thirty years later.