{"value"=>"<p>The largest in the collection, this series contains mostly black and white proofs, contact sheets, and negatives, with a small number of color prints, negatives, and slides, of studio portraits of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, and other figures ranging from the unknown to the most famous. There are early photos of Bea Arthur, Charlton Heston, Lee Grant, Kim Hunter, Paul Lynde, and Patrick O’Neal, to name a few. In some instances, Willard did montage prints combining various photos of the subject, including one of WNEW disc jockeys Gene Rayburn and Dee Finch with Avery Willard’s cat, Bobby.</p> <p>Among the notable personalities Willard photographed are: Harold Arlen, Richard Burton, Pablo Casals, Carol Channing, Montgomery Clift, Vernon Duke, Maurice Evans, Hermione Gingold, Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Libby Holman, Zizi Jeanmaire, Louis Jourdan, Lotte Lenya, Jayne Mansfield, Gian Carlo Menotti, Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Roland Petit, Marie Powers, Anthony Quinn, Ted Shawn, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, and Gwen Verdon.</p> <p>Many of the portraits were taken for Emmons Jewelry in the 1960s. Personalities who posed for Emmons include celebrities of the period, such as Phil Ford and Mimi Hines, Jill Haworth, Sheree North, Enzo Stuarti, and Monique Van Vooren.</p> <p>African-American performers can also be found, including Ruth Brown, Vinnette Carroll, Buck Clayton, Nat King Cole, Delta Rhythm Boys, Earle Hyman, Helen Humes, Cissy Houston, Rosetta Le Noire, Claudia McNeil, Butterfly McQueen, Helen Martin, Mabel Mercer, Josephine Premice, Pearl Primus, Bobby Short, Maxine Sullivan, Clarice Taylor, Ethel Waters, Mary Lou Williams, and Teddy Wilson.</p> <p>Writers photographed include Polly Adler, author of <span class=\"title\">A House Is Not a Home</span>, Michael Gazzo, Carson McCullers, Ogden Nash, William Saroyan, Paul Shyre, and others.</p> <p>There are several weddings and parties in this series, such as the Rosemary Harris-Ellis Rabb wedding in 1959 and a 1962 birthday party for Susan Loesser, Frank Loesser’s daughter.</p> <p>Also included in this series are negatives made by Avery Willard of publicity photos of many Hollywood film stars such as Alan Ladd, Myrna Loy, George O’Brien, Robert Stack, Rudolph Valentino, and Mae West. Additional portraits can be found in the Oversized Personalities series, as well as in some of the studio photos in the Productions series.</p>"}