Theo Ehret photographs
Content Description
Photographs taken by Theo Ehret, 1970-1985, undated. Subjects include Hollywood, downtown Los Angeles and its buildings and freeways, LAX, the Olympic Auditorium, Hollywood celebrities, and boxers and wrestlers. These include Clint Eastwood, Alex Arguello, Johnny Carson, Hulk Hogan, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Willie Shoemaker, Andre the Giant, Sylvester Stallone, Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Lewis, Max Schmeling, Ricardo Montalban, Anthony Quinn, Gregory Peck, Sonny Liston, Joe Frazer, George Foreman, Muhammed Ali, Ken Norton, Burt Reynolds, Ryan O'Neal, Bobby Chacon, Ronald Reagan, Jerry Brown, Sam Yorty, Tommy Lasorda, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West.
Dates
- Creation: 1970-1985, undated
Creator
- Ehret, Theo (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Biographical / Historical
Theo Ehret (1920-2012) was the house photographer at the Grand Olympic Auditorium from the mid-1960s through the 1980s. Ehret photographed all aspects of the Auditorium's boxing activities--press conferences, training regimens at local gyms, weigh-ins, portraits used to publicize the bouts, the fights themselves, and the crowds who attended. Ehret also covered the wrestling matches held at the Auditorium. In addition to being reproduced on posters and programs, Ehret's photographs were also published in local newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and the Herald Examiner, and national and international publications, including World Boxing, International Boxing, Inside Wrestling, and Wrestling Revue.
Ehret was born in Mannheim, Germany. He was drafted into the German Navy and spend time in a prisoner of war camp in Italy. He and his wife emigrated to the United States in the early 1950s, after he worked as a translator for General George S. Patton. After receiving his degree in photogeraphy from the New York School of Professional Photography, Theo and his wife moved to Los Angeles. He began working for a PR film, shooting for commercial clients, and in 1963 was able to set up his own studio in Echo Park.
Ehret's skill as a chronicler of boxing and wrestling prompted the publicaiton of "Exquisite Mayhem" by Taschen in 2001. Taschen would also use some of Ehret's photographs of Muhammed Ali for their publicaiton, "G.O.A.T.", and Ehret's photographs were also included in "Street Credibility," an exhibition curated by Michael Kelly for MoCA in 2004.
Extent
0.21 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Photographs taken by Theo Ehret, 1970-1985, undated. Subjects include Hollywood, downtown Los Angeles and its buildings and freeways, LAX, the Olympic Auditorium, Hollywood celebrities, and boxers and wrestlers. Theo Ehret (1920-2012) was the house photographer at the Grand Olympic Auditorium from the mid-1960s through the 1980s. Ehret photographed all aspects of the Auditorium's boxing and wrestling matches. His photographs were reproduced on posters and programs, and published in local newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and the Herald Examiner, and national and international publications.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Judge Anthony Mohr, November 18, 2016.
Subject
- Ehret, Theo -- Photographs (Person)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Finding aid for the Theo Ehret photographs
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Sue Luftschein
- Date
- 2017 October
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the USC Libraries Special Collections Repository
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles California 90089-0189 United States
specol@usc.edu