Shooting Elaine’s (But Not Elaine)

Ron Galella

Ron Galella is the paparazzo who pursued and then pursued some more. Galella doesn’t “do” no, especially from Jackie O. Elaine threw garbage cans at him; Marlon Brando allegedly punched him in the jaw. Galella has been in and out of courtrooms, defending his right to click on. He is the subject of Smash his Camera and the author of Jackie: My Obsession.

DURING MY “GOLDEN years” of shooting—in the 1960s and 1970s—when there were freedom and opportunity, I covered Elaine’s Restaurant. Elaine’s was a late-night hangout for celebrities, especially writers, and was, of course, Woody Allen’s favorite. I usually made it my last stop of the night on my way home to Westchester. One of my many great takes was on September 14, 1978, when I photographed Woody Allen and Caroline Kennedy. Not together, of course, but each out with friends. That night Woody did something unusual: he decided to walk home going west on Eighty-eighth Street. I was behind him, with his back facing me, and I yelled to him, “On the count of three, turn around.” I counted, and to my surprise, he actually turned around! That photo was used for an artist’s rendering, which was published on the cover of the April 30, 1979, issue of Time magazine. I was paid the cover fee, $750!

Woody and Mia Farrow had a hot new romance at the time, so my wife Betty and I waited to catch them leaving Elaine’s one night. Unfortunately, they ran out separately to Woody’s Rolls Royce, but Betty and I surprised them shortly thereafter at a traffic light on Central Park West. They tried to dodge the cameras by hiding in the backseat, but we were able to catch them by each shooting through the back windows. Betty actually wound up getting the better shot, and those were the first photos of them together!