As many of you know, William Read Woodfield was a very talented photographer in the 50's and 60's before he left photography to write Jack Ruby's biography and then author excellent action-adventure scripts for the big and small screen. MIssion:Impossible was one of many shows Billy worked on..

Although he was sometimes referred to as Marilyn Monroe's personal photographer -- he did 8 films with her and took the famous nudes of her on the Fox lot -- the star he actually was closest to was Frank Sinatra.

Frank trusted Billy (which all his friends called him) completely and brought him the roll of film Billy had shot at Frank's Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe of Monroe and Sam Giancana. Marilyn was far from her best and when Billy asked Frank what he should do with the photos, Frank replied "Burn them". They did it right there and Frank never asked if there were any copies.

Because Billy spent the last three decades writing, very few of his photographs have been available to the private collector. Authors and companies, however, have avidly sought his images.. Besides the many Marilyn books, Tony Summers in Sinatra, John Lahr in Sinatra, The Artist and the Man, Entertainment Magazine in their memorial issue, Capitol Records, and the recent Sinatra Christmas Collection album, all put a Woodfield photograph on their covers.

Now that Christmas album cover, one of the best Sinatra images, where he flashes that "magical Sinatra smile", has been made into a very limited fine-art edition on archival matte paper, numbered and signed. It is available in two sizes. I have obtained a few prints and am offering them now. (Mrs. Woodfield has assured me that when the edition is sold, there will be no more.)