Sam Shaw

Name: Sam Shaw
Address: New York, NY, US
Telephone: +12123670897

Photographer / Filmmaker / Art Director

NEW BOOK https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Marilyn-Unseen-Letters-Photographs/dp/1788843339

04/09/2026

Spend the weekend with Marilyn! On the occasion of Marilyn Monroe’s centenary, the Museum presents a selection of the eternal movie star’s films set in New York City, plus a conversation with Melissa Stevens, the granddaughter of photographer Sam Shaw, whose vibrant images of Monroe charted the actress throughout her career. Films include THE SEVEN-YEAR ITCH, HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, and the rarely shown B-movie DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK.

Get tickets: https://movingimage.org/series/marilyn-monroe-in-new-york/

Photo courtesy of Sam Shaw Family Archive

04/04/2026

Happy heavenly birthday MARLON BRANDO. Photographed by Sam Shaw on the set of the 1961 film One-Eyed Jacks, directed by and starring Brando. The actor and one-time director’s production company put up the money for Shaw's first feature studio film, Paris Blues, after Shaw and his partner Joe Curtis (son of Jack Cohn and nephew of Harry Cohn, the founders of Columbia Pictures) were cut out of their original development of On The Waterfront. Included in Shaw's archive are his photos of the real-life "Waterfront Priest" Rev. John M. Corridan, who fought corruption on the New York docks.

Photo by Sam Shaw (c) Shaw Family Archives

Marlon Brando

03/17/2026

Ireland, 1954. By Sam Shaw 💚

(c) Shaw Family Archives

Shaw Family Archives

01/15/2026

Happy birthday Sam Shaw...photographer, photojournalist, producer, filmmaker, art director, writer, illustrator, storyboard artist, graphic designer, sign painter, courtroom artist, muralist, cartoonist, New Yorker, family man and friend. We love and miss you madly!

Pictured in New York (perhaps on Sylvia and Leonard Lyons rooftop), photographed by his son Larry in Paris making Sam's first feature film Paris Blues, on set of The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone in London with his daughter Edie as his assistant, in his signature trench coat, and with his daughter Meta and wife Anne.

Shaw Family Archives

(c) Shaw Family Archives

12/13/2025

FRANK SINATRA photographed by Sam Shaw Shaw in the 1940s. The actor and singer was born 110 years ago today ✨

(c) Shaw Family Archives

Shaw Family Archives

12/09/2025

Happy heavenly birthday to the actor turned director JOHN CASSAVETES photographed in 1958 by Sam Shaw making SHADOWS -- the first film Cassavetes directed and a pioneering work of American independent cinema. The music is by jazz giant Charles Mingus, alongside music by saxophonist Shafi Hadi, capturing the film's raw, improvisational spirit and themes of race and New York City life.

Photo by Sam Shaw (c) Shaw Family Archives Ltd

Shaw Family Archives

12/08/2025

SAMMY DAVIS JR. photographed by Sam Shaw in 1951. The late entertainer was born in Harlem, New York, 100 years ago today. Happy birthday on Sammy's centennial 💥

Photo by Sam Shaw (c) Shaw Family Archives Ltd.

Sammy Davis Jr. Shaw Family Archives

12/02/2025

Portraits of the writer ROMAIN GARY in Rome, Italy, 1961 by SAM SHAW. These images were part of a series Sam photographed for the LIFE magazine article "GARY THE TRIPLE THREAT." The title refers to his notoriety as one of France's greatest wartime fliers, as a career diplomat and as a distinguished writer.

Gary is quoted in the LIFE article as saying, "I sometimes lie on a beach and think and watch the roll of the sea, which I suppose for me is a substitute for the infinite. When the light is like this and the air is so soft it can't be beat--except, perhaps, by the face of a young girl looking forward toward life." He was married in 1962 to American actress JEAN SEBERG.

RIP Romain Gary who passed away 45 years ago today.

Photos by Sam Shaw (c) Shaw Family Archives Ltd.

Shaw Family Archives

09/26/2025

11K Followers, 621 Following, 2,090 Posts

09/10/2025

"Columnist Leonard Lyons and his wife Sylvia took her around, introduced her to Sardi's Restaurant. Leonard took Marilyn seriously as a person and as an actress. He helped her partner with photographer Milton Greene. He introduced her to the stars of the theatre, politicians, and editors. Marilyn was in Leonard and Sylvia's hands when I had my assignments in Europe. The Lyons were her protectors." - Sam Shaw

Excerpt from Sam Shaw's new book DEAR MARILYN: THE UNSEEN LETTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHS coming out September 23, 2025. Available for pre-order now at the link in bio ⬆️

Today is New York Post columnist LEONARD LYONS birthday. For 40 years, Lyons authored a column titled "The Lyons Den" that covered theater, movies, politics and art. Although Marilyn Monroe lacked a stable family, behind the scenes she had friends like Sam Shaw and Leonard Lyons who supported her talent and ambitions.

Photo by Sam Shaw (c) Shaw Family Archives

Shaw Family Archives

09/05/2025

DARRYL F. ZANUCK photographed by Sam Shaw Shaw on the set of THE LONGEST DAY (1962). Co-founder of 20th Century Fox studios, Zanuck produced many movies including VIVA ZAPATA! directed by ELIA KAZAN and starring MARLON BRANDO and ANTHONY QUINN. In 1950 Kazan first introduced Sam to an out-of-work young actress named MARILYN MONROE, and soon after, during the filming of Viva Zapata!, Sam and Marilyn became close friends. Sam wrote that Zanuck "was sympathetic to Marilyn. He once told me that Marilyn couldn't act but was a rare presence on the screen. He believed it was worth waiting twenty-three takes to get the right one from her." Today is Zanuck's birthday.

Read more about Marilyn, Kazan, Zanuck, Brando, Hollywood, and Sam's personal point of view both in word and images, in Sam Shaw's new memoir DEAR MARILYN: The Unseen Letters and Photographs. Available now for pre-order through your local bookstore or online retailer. Coming out September 23 in the USA and UK, and globally this Fall. ⬆️ Link in Bio

Photo by Sam Shaw (c) Shaw Family Archives Ltd.

Shaw Family Archives

Address

New York, NY

Telephone

+12123670897

Website

https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Marilyn-Unseen-Letters-Photographs/dp/1788843339

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