I have tried a few friends, the Milwaukee list and now here.
Perhaps someone just purchased a photograph of a movie star when she was performing here in Milwaukee. Perhaps she was born here in Milwaukee and went out to Hollywood to find her fame and fortune. Either way, this beautiful lady intrigues me.
Does anyone recognize this mystery woman? She looks familiar to me but I can’t place her. My friend picked up her photo at Goodwill a few days ago and now we are trying to identify her.
A larger version can be found in my gallery.
This is what my friend has to say about her:
“All I know is that the photo has “Seawell” embossed on it and the mat says “Paul Hesse Studios.” I learned at http://www.mptv.net that they were Hollywood photographers and took photos of many famous people.”
“The photo was framed with cardboard on the back. I can make out WATER ST and MILWAUKEE 2 WIS.”
I did a little more research and the word Seawell refers to Wallace Seawell (1916-2007), a celebrity photographer. His career started in the 1940s and lasted more than 60 years.
His obituary, which can be found here http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070602/NEWS/706020383, goes on to say that he took photos of Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Lucille Ball, and Peggy Lee. He was a close friend to George Burns, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Johnny Mathis and Robert Cummings. He took photographs for Hollywood celebrity magazines such as Photoplay and Screen Gems.
So….does anyone have any clues?