Alfred Cheney Johnston (1885-1971) was a New York City-based photographer known for his portraits of Ziegfeld Follies showgirls as well as of actors and actresses from the worlds of stage and film.
Johnston was born into an affluent New York banking family, which subsequently moved to Mount Vernon, New York. Initially he studied painting and illustration at the National Academy of Design in New York, but after graduating in 1908, his subsequent efforts to earn a living as a portrait painter did not meet with success. Instead, reportedly at the suggestion of longtime family friend and famed illustrator Charles Dana Gibson, he started to employ the camera previously used to record his painting subjects as his basic creative medium.
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| Ziegfeld Follies girls taken by Alfred Cheney Johnston |
Johnston was born into an affluent New York banking family, which subsequently moved to Mount Vernon, New York. Initially he studied painting and illustration at the National Academy of Design in New York, but after graduating in 1908, his subsequent efforts to earn a living as a portrait painter did not meet with success. Instead, reportedly at the suggestion of longtime family friend and famed illustrator Charles Dana Gibson, he started to employ the camera previously used to record his painting subjects as his basic creative medium.
In approximately 1917, Johnston was hired by famed New York City live-theater showman and producer Florenz Ziegfeld as a contracted photographer, and was affiliated with the Ziegfeld Follies for the next fifteen years or so. He photographed several hundred actresses and showgirls (mainly in New York City, and whether they were part of the Follies or not) during that time period.
Here is a portrait photo collection of glamorous Ziegfeld girls that were taken by Alfred Cheney Johnston from the late 1910s to early 1930s.
Here is a portrait photo collection of glamorous Ziegfeld girls that were taken by Alfred Cheney Johnston from the late 1910s to early 1930s.
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| Ada May |
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| Adele Mason |
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| Adrienne Ames |
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| Albertina Vitak |
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| Alice Wilkie |
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| Alma Rubens |
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| Ann Pennington |
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| Anne Lee Patterson |
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| Barbara Stanwyck |
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| Bernice Ackerman |
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| Beth Beri |
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| Billie Burke |
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| Billie Dove |
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| Blanche Satchel |
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| Carmel Myers |
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| Caryl Bergman |
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| Catherine Moylan |
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| Claudia Dell |
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| Delores Costello |
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| Doris Kenyon |
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| Dorothy Dickson |
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| Dorothy Fenron |
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| Dorothy Knapp |
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| Dorothy Sebastian |
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| Drucilla Strain |
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| Elizabeth Brown |
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| Emma Haig |
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| Evan Burrows Fontaine |
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| Evelyn Laye |
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| Flo Newton |
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| Gilda Gray |
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| Gladys Glad |
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| Gloria Swanson |
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| Grace Moore |
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| Harriet Hoctor |
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| Helen Lee Worthing |
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| Janet McGrew |
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| Jean Ackerman |
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| Katherine Burke |
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| Lee Russell |
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| Lora Foster |
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| Louise Brooks |
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| Marie Prevost |
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| Marion Benda |
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| Martha Mansfield |
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| Mary Jane Nickerson |
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| Mary Pickford |
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| Mitzi Hajos |
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| Muriel Finley |
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| Myrna Darby |
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| Naomi Johnson |
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| Norma Shearer |
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| Olive Ann Alcorn |
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| Peggy Blake |
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| Peggy Hopkins Joyce |
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| Peggy Shannon |
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| Rose Dolores |
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| Tallulah Bankhead |
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| The Cutter Sisters |
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| The Dolly Sisters |
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| Virginia Biddle |
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| Virginia Snyder |
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| Vivian Porter |
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| Yvonne Shelton |
