Mark A. Vieira

Mark A. Vieira is a photographer, writer, and filmmaker. He makes glamour portraits in the classic Hollywood mode, working in the historic Granada Buildings, where George Hurrell had his first Los Angeles studio. He writes books about the artists, genres, and photographic technique of Hollywood’s Golden Era. He writes, directs, and edits documentaries for the Cecil B. De Mille Foundation.

Mark has written 18 books since 1988, giving voices to George Hurrell, Tony Curtis, Boris Karloff, Greta Garbo, Irving Thalberg, Cecil B. DeMille, Joan Crawford, and Norma Shearer. He publicizes his books with exhibitions of photographs that he prints by hand from original Hollywood negatives.

Mark’s portfolio includes the “Portraits of Pleasure” ad campaign and portraits of Jack Lemmon, Danny Glover, and Leslie Mann. In 2010, Mark’s portrait career was celebrated by an exhibition at the University of Southern California’s One Archives Gallery. In 2019, Art Meets Architecture honored Mark’s fiftieth year as a photographer with a retrospective exhibition at the Fine Arts Building in Los Angeles.

In 2008 Mark introduced his Irving Thalberg exhibition at Lincoln Center. In 2009 Mark guest-curated the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences exhibition: “Irving Thalberg: Creating the Hollywood Studio System, 1920-1936.” In 2013, Mark entertained a capacity audience in the historic Orpheum Theatre for the L.A. Conservancy’s presentation of Ben-Hur (1925), and he appeared on NBC’s The Today Show. Mark has appeared in 14 documentaries, including Photoplay Productions’ Garbo (2005), the Playboy Channel’s Sex at 24 Frames Per Second (2003), and the 2011 BBC documentary Shooting the Stars.

In 2014, Mark and Cecilia DeMille Presley were interviewed by Rita Braver on CBS Sunday Morning. In 2015, they were interviewed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. In 2016, Mark introduced the Nitrate Noir series at U.C.L.A. and lectured at the American Cinematheque. In 2017, Mark gave presentations in the Los Angeles Public Library system, the Glendale Public Library, and First Congregational Church. In May 2019, he starred in the one-man show When Sin Ruled the Movies at the Cavern Club Theater.