Exclusive Portraits of Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, Sade, Bono, and More In Their Glamorous, Glorious Youth
Glamour, the incomparable photographer of old Hollywood glamour George Hurrell once explained to a young Matthew Rolston, was “a kind of a suffering look.” It was a nice turn of phrase to describe the laborious artifice of the pictures of Jean Harlow and Ginger Rogers that circulate in the collective memory of vintage movie stars, and Rolston, then a rising photographer in the 80’s, threw himself into recreating those highly-staged tableaux. Only, he was doing it for Interview magazine, then under the purview of its original founder Andy Warhol (himself a glamour devotee), and Rolston was casting the new stars of his era into the glory days of Tinseltown: Madonna he turned into Marlene Dietrich, Robert Downey, Jr. into a figure straight out of a Dashiell Hammett caper. A new book out now, Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles (teNeues), collects over 100 of Rolston’s portraits of the decade’s biggest stars, including Michael Jackson, Prince, Sade, Drew Barrymore, Bono, George Michael, Joan Didion, and more. Here, a look at some of the biggest icons of our time back in their beautiful, glamorous youth. As Warhol himself said, Rolston “gave them all class.”
Prince, Portrait in Psychedelic Colors, Los Angeles, 1988. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Madonna as Marlene, Los Angeles, 1986. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Michael Jackson, King, Los Angeles, 1985. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
George Michael, Hand, London, 1988. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Sade, Without Makeup, Los Angeles, 1988. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Sylvester Stallone, Polo Pony, Los Angeles, 1989. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Cyndi Lauper, Headdress, Los Angeles, 1986. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Cybill Shepherd, Reclining, Los Angeles, 1986. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Steven Spielberg, Close Encounter, Los Angeles, 1977. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Molly Ringwald, 1920s Style, The Four Decades, Series, Los Angeles, 1985. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Brigitte Nielsen, Without Makeup I, Los Angeles, 1986. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Robert Downey, Jr., The Bad and the Beautiful, Series, Los Angeles, 1985. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Ethan Hawke, Method Portrait, Los Angeles, 1991. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Isabella Rossellini, Bird, New York, 1988. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Christy Turlington, Manta Ray, The Surreal Thing, Series, New York, 1987. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Lisa Bonet, Floating, Los Angeles, 1987. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Tom Waits, Bird, Los Angeles, 1986. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Drew Barrymore, Portrait as a Boy, Los Angeles, 1991. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Bono, Light Trails, Dublin, 1987. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Farrah Fawcett, Poor Little Rich Girl, Los Angeles, 1987. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Joan Didion, Eyeglasses, Los Angeles, 1983. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
Yohji Yamamoto, Atelier Portrait, Paris, 1985. From the book Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, published by teNeues.
