Photographer David Sutton was prolific, and if he were alive today he'd probably tell you so himself.  But that was Dave Sutton, a man, short in stature, but with an oversized personality.  It is perhaps this trait of Sutton's that allowed him to so effectively translate onto film both the largeness and everyday-ness of some of the 20th century's most famous entertainers. 

Whether capturing Duke thoughtfully engaged in a game of chess, Paul Newman playfully interacting with his daughters or Sinatra quietly waiting in his dressing room before going on stage at the Sands, Sutton had an understanding of the intimate.  At the same time, however, he had a superb sense for the iconic; one that compelled him to dilligently cover the big stars' performances so as to reinforce the persona the world knew and adored: John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn; a tuxedoed Sinatra on stage contagiously belting out 'Luck be a Lady;' Newman racing in "Winning."

On top of all this, Sutton, as one writer put it, was "fiercely loyal."  He would take a hole punch to his negatives when his subjects had an unflattering expression on their face or were caught in an awkward pose.  He always sought to show the star in the best light and had an allegiance to the subject that translated into his work.  It takes a special eye to capture the various sides of man, and Sutton had it.  He was able to show the star and the person; larger than life, yet one of us.

Photo: © 1978 David Sutton / MPTV.net

Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American soul and funk singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger, composer, and actor.  Hayes was one of the main creative forces behind southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served as both an in-house songwriter and producer with partner David Porter during the mid-1960s.  In the late 1960s, Hayes became a recording artist, and recorded successful soul albums such as Hot Buttered Soul (1969) and Black Moses (1971) as the Stax label's premiere artist.

Hayes was found unconscious in his home located just east of Memphis, Tennessee on August 10, 2008 as reported by the Shelby County Sheriff's Department.  A Shelby County Sheriff's deputy responded to Hayes' home after his wife found him on the floor near a still-running treadmill.  Hayes was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, where he was pronounced dead at 2:08pm.

Photo: © 1978 Gunther / MPTV.net

John Lee Hooker and Carlos Santana - My assignment was to do a studio session with Carlos and John Lee for John Lee's new album, "Healer," which featured Carlos on several tracks.  To loosen everybody up, I suggested they do a couple of songs.  Hours later, they were still jammin' -- a private concert by two of music's living legends.  I put them in the corner of my studio to give the impression of jamming in a basement.

Nikon F4     Plus-X     125 ASA     1/60 sec.     f/8     50mm f/1.2    

Photo: © 1987 Richard E. Aaron

Sandra Dee (April 23, 1942 - February 20, 2005) was an American film actress best known for her portrayal of ingenues.Born Alexandria Cymboliak Zuck to John and Mary (née Cymboliak) Zuck in Bayonne, New Jersey, who later divorced. Abbreviated as "Sandra", she became a professional model by the age of four and subsequently progressed to television commercials.

Sporty, cheerful and squeaky-clean, Sandra Dee was the star of "Gidget", the 1959 film that inspired a flurry of sun-and-fun surfing movies in the early 1960s. Sandra Dee made her first film, "Until They Sail", in 1957. In 1958 she won a Golden Globe Award for "Most Promising Newcomer" (along with Carolyn Jones and Diane Varsi). Her film career flourished, and she became known for her wholesome ingenue roles.

1959 was her breakthrough year, with starring roles in the melodrama "A Summer Place" and the beach blanket romance "Gidget", with Dee cast as a sweet-natured teen blonde adopted by a band of surfers. "Gidget" made Dee such a star that film critic Leonard Maltin later compared her popularity at the time to that of Britney Spears decades later. After "Gidget", Dee moved on to perky roles in films like "Tammy", "Tell Me True" (1961) and "That Funny Feeling" (1965).

"Zardoz" is a 1974 science fiction film written, produced, and directed by John Boorman. It stars Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling, and Sara Kestelman. Zardoz was Connery's second post-James Bond role (after "The Offense"). The film was shot by cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth on a budget of $1 million.

In the year AD 2293, a post-apocalypse Earth is inhabited mostly by the "Brutals", who are ruled by the "Exterminators", "the Chosen" warrior class. The Exterminators worship the god Zardoz, a huge, flying, hollow stone head; Zardoz teaches:

"The gun is good. The penis is evil. The penis shoots seeds, and makes new life to poison the Earth with a plague of men, as once it was, but the gun shoots death, and purifies the Earth of the filth of brutals. Go forth . . . and kill!"

Nastassja Kinski (born Nastassja Aglaia Nakszyński, January 24, 1961) is a prolific German actress, having appeared in more than 60 movies. Her starring roles include her Golden Globe Award-winning portrayal of 'Tess Durbeyfield' in Roman Polanski's film Tess, her roles in two erotic films (Stay as you are and Cat People), and her parts in Wim Wenders' films The Wrong Move, Paris, Texas, and Faraway, So Close!. During the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s Nastassja Kinski was widely regarded as an international sex symbol.

Kinski's career began in Germany where she started as a model. At 13, the German New Wave actress Lisa Kreuzer placed her in the role of the dumb Mignon in Wim Wenders' film "The Wrong Move". In her mid-teens she starred in the British Hammer Film Productions' horror film "To the Devil a Daughter" (1976). Kinski has gained notoriety through nude appearances in these films while still a minor. This is linked to controversy as to the year of her birth, apparently reported to American authorities as 1959 though German records show 1961. She has stated that as a child she felt exploited by the industry and told a journalist from W Magazine, "If I had had somebody to protect me or if I had felt more secure about myself, I would not have accepted certain things. Nudity things. And inside it was just tearing me apart".

The Incredible Hulk was an American television series based on the Marvel comic book character of the same name. Two TV movies aired on CBS in 1977, and the show followed, airing from 1978 to 1982. It starred Bill Bixby as Dr. David Bruce Banner and Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk. The concept was developed for television by Kenneth Johnson, who also developed the Alien Nation TV series. The show has, over subsequent decades, become a cult classic.

The show centered around David Banner, a physician/scientist who is traumatized by a fatal car accident which kills his wife. Haunted by his inability to save her, Banner studies incidents of people who, while in danger, exhibited superhuman levels of strength. He concludes that high levels of gamma radiation from sunspots are the cause. To prove his theory, he bombards his own body with gamma radiation. Unknown to Banner, his equipment has been upgraded, causing him to administer a far higher dose than he intended. During a rainstorm later that evening, he suffers a flat tire and injures himself while trying to change it. The resulting pain triggers his first transformation into the Hulk. The Hulk destroys Banner's car and wanders through the woods all night. He eventually reverts back to Banner, with no memory of the tire-changing incident.

Photographer and MPTV founder Sid Avery, before passing away in 2002, recollected on some of the greats he photographed.  This month, MPTV features a story Sid told about the time he spent shooting Rock Hudson:

"We had worked together many times and I was always very fond of him.  He was always cooperative and very thoughtful.  We shot on his film set, out to dinner with Julie Adams, in his house, washing his car, showering and cooking breakfast.  He loved the most popular recording stars of the time and we shared the same likes in many of his choices.  A great guy and willing subject."

Photo: © 1978 Sid Avery / MPTV.net

"It was the 60th day of the 45-day shooting schedule for the film "Sleeper" when I saw Woody seated in his director's chair.  He was reading my list of credits which I had listed on the outside of my stage locker.  This list included various Richard Dix "Whistler" films, Chester Morris' "Boston Blackies" and Warner Baxter's "Crime Doctor."  Woody remarked just how much he enjoyed watching "those old films," saying, "If I see that any of those movies are listed to be shown on television, even as late as two or three in the morning, I stay up and watch them.  I think they are just great."  When I told him that they were the typical "B" product and that they were all made in just five days, there was quite a long pause before he said, "Impossible.  Nobody can make a motion picture in five days and have it turn out to be any good."  "Woody," I answered, "You would not stay up until two or three in the morning to view a film that you knew was no good, would you?"  He then wanted to know how it was accomplished, and as best I could, I told him . . . . "

Photo: © 1978 Bill Avery / MPTV.net