Henry Grossman (October 11, 1936 – November 27, 2022) was an American photographer, best known for his portraits of notable figures, in particular PresidentJohn F. Kennedy andThe Beatles, as well as prominent political figures, writers, and performing artists. Through much of his career he was a staff photographer forLife magazine. His photographs feature portraits that includeLyndon Johnson,Richard Nixon,Kurt Vonnegut Jr,Elizabeth Taylor,Richard Burton,Luciano Pavarotti, andBarbra Streisand.

Henry Grossman was born inNew York City, the son of Elias Grossman, a renowned Russian-born etcher, whose subjects includeMahatma Gandhi,Albert Einstein, andBenito Mussolini.^[1][2]

Grossman studied photography at the Metropolitan Vocational High School in New York City and completed an undergraduate degree in Theater Arts atBrandeis University in 1958. He later studied acting withLee Strasberg. His classmates includedDustin Hoffman andElliott Gould.^[1]

In his twenties, Grossman shot assignments and covers forLife magazine,The New York Times,Time magazine,Newsweek,Paris Match, and others. He was later hired as a staff photographer forLife magazine. After photographing John F. Kennedy's announcement to run for presidency, Henry travelled to photo document the Kennedy campaign. After Kennedy was elected president he became a friend of the family and was often invited to photograph at personal and private events.^[1]

In February 1964, he photographed the Beatles'American television debut performance on theEd Sullivan Show. Subsequently, he became friends with the Beatles and spent extensive time photographing them between 1964 and 1968.^[2]

Grossman was also an opera singer and Broadway theater actor.^[1]

Grossman had two children who both work as professional musicians.^[1] He died of injuries sustained in a fall, on November 27, 2022, at the age of 86.^[3]

In college, Henry Grossman photographedEleanor Roosevelt,Marc Chagall,David Ben-Gurion,e.e. cummings,Robert Graves,John F. Kennedy on the day he announced his candidacy for presidency,Adlai Stevenson, andHenry Kissinger, among others.^[1]

Grossman's photographs include prominent political figures, in particularJohn F. Kennedy,Robert F. Kennedy,Ted Kennedy,Lyndon B. Johnson,Richard Nixon, artists and writers, in particularAlexander Calder,Kurt Vonnegut,Vladimir Nabokov, Rock and Roll legends, in particularthe Beatles,Jimi Hendrix,Rod Stewart, andthe Grateful Dead, and other performing artists, in particularElizabeth Taylor,Richard Burton,Meryl Streep,Martha Graham,Rudolph Nureyev,Leonard Bernstein,Luciano Pavarotti,Placido Domingo,Leontyne Price,Barbra Streisand, andThelonious Monk.^[1][2][4]

Frequently Henry worked as the official photographer for Broadway shows, with follow-upphoto-essays forLife magazine.^[2]

Famous photographs of John F. Kennedy taken by Henry Grossman include early campaign photographs and the front-page photograph published in the New York Times when Kennedy was assassinated.^[5]

Between 1964 and 1968, Henry Grossman took more than 7,000 photographs of the Beatles, most of which were not published at the time. In 2008, Kevin Ryan, Brian Kehew, and Henry Grossman publishedKaleidoscope Eyes, which documents a recording session for the song "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds". In 2012, Ryan, Kehew and Grossman then publishedPlaces I Remember, revealing more than 1000 previously unpublished photographs.^[2][6][7]

The photographs are notable for their unusual angles and candid documentation of life and events. Henry was a trusted photographer and friend, who participated in both their public and private lives. In 1967, Henry photographed the band with their guruMaharishi Mahesh Yogi in Bangor, Wales, when they learned that their managerBrian Epstein had been found dead of a drug overdose. His best-known photograph of the Beatles is a formal portrait shot for the cover ofLife magazine in 1967 and also released as a poster, depicting the band with mustaches and flowery clothes.^[2]

Henry Grossman was a principal tenor in the New York Metropolitan Opera, and a Broadway performer, with more than 1,000 performances inGrand Hotel.^[2]

Henry Grossman. 2012.Places I Remember: My Time with the Beatles. Curvebender Publishing. Introduction by Paul McCartney.ISBN 978-0978520021.

Kevin Ryan, Brian Kehew, and Henry Grossman. 2008.Kaleidoscope Eyes: A Day in the Life of Sgt. Pepper. The Photography of Henry Grossman. Curvebender Publishing.ISBN 9780978520014.

Barbara Kasten, Ellen Denuto, Go-Al Nowak, Henry Grossman, Claude Huyghens, Jorg Wischmann, Pedro Luis Raota, Hugo Lambrecht, John Isaac, Aki Hirahata. 1990.Minolta Mirror. Minolta Publishing. ASIN B000H5520G.

• Henry Grossman Website
• Henry Grossman Biography