Interview With Ellen Graham
by David Patrick Columbia, New York Social Diary
January 2008
Warren Beatty, 1967
I met him in New York in 1967. He came to a party I gave with Susan Fonda. I didn’t know who he was at the time but I thought he was absolutely gorgeous. I didn’t see that much of him after that until I was in California. I was shooting a piece for Harper’s Bazaar on the 100 Most Attractive Men in the World - (we only got to about 12). I asked if I could shoot him for it and he very graciously agreed. By then he had become a major player in every sense of the word.
He had an apartment at the Beverly Wilshire. We did a few things outside on his terrace and then I thought it might be good to get something a little more intimate. I guessed that Warren Beatty’s always in bed, so I asked if I could shoot him there and he agreed willingly.
The shoot took about a couple hours because Warren was on the phone half the time.
The last time I photographed him was about five years later, on the set of Shampoo. I had arranged to shoot Julie Christie who was living at his house. I photographed her there and the two together.
He was always charming and gracious with me, and a complete gentleman.
— Ellen Graham