Douglas Kirkland

Douglas Morley Kirkland (August 16, 1934 – October 2, 2022) was a Canadian-born American photographer. He was noted for his photographs of celebrities, especially the ones he took of Marilyn Monroe several months before her death.

Early life Kirkland was born in Toronto on August 16, 1934. He was raised in nearby Fort Erie, where his father managed a small store that sold suits. He later recounted how he developed his penchant for photography while perusing the Life magazines his father brought back from his store. Kirkland attended Seneca Vocational High School in Buffalo, New York, before immigrating to the United States permanently.

Over the years, various notable persons later posed for Kirkland, from the great photography innovator Man Ray and photographer/painter Jacques Henri Lartigue to Dr. Stephen Hawking. Entertainment celebrities he photographed included Romy Schneider, Audrey Hepburn, Sting, Björk, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Morgan Freeman, Orson Welles, Andy Warhol, Oliver Stone, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Angelina Jolie, Leonardo DiCaprio, Coco Chanel, Brigitte Bardot, Judy Garland, Michael Jackson, and Diana Ross. Kirkland's portrait of Charlie Chaplin is at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Titanic, and Moulin Rouge!. a portrait of Judy Garland crying, and the March 1976 Playboy pictorial of Margot Kidder.

Kirkland's picture book, Titanic (1998), was the first of its kind to reach No.1 on the New York Times Best Seller list and did so on both the hardcover and paperback lists.

Personal life Kirkland was married to Françoise until his death. He had three children: Karen, Lisa, and Mark, who is a director of The Simpsons.