Ronald E. Galella

JANUARY, 10, 1931– APRIL 30, 2022

Visitation is being held on Tuesday & Wednesday, May 3 & 4th (3:00 -7:00 pm) at Frank E. Campbell’s Funeral Chapel - 1076 Madison Avenue at 81st Street, NYC.

Funeral service on Thursday, May 5th at 10:00 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral - 5th Avenue and 51st Street, NYC.

Burial services to be held at Woodlawn cemetery following the mass.

Ronald E. Galella, the most famous and controversial celebrity photojournalist in the world, died on April 30, 2022 at his home in Montville, New Jersey. He was 91 years old.

Galella's passion for the fine art of photography, coupled with a dedicated do-it-yourself approach to making his own custom prints in his darkroom, has seen Galella’s work included in the collections of museums and art galleries throughout the world, including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and San Francisco, the Tate Modern in London, and the Helmut Newton Foundation Museum of Photography in Berlin.

His devotion to photography led to the publishing of twenty two books, including Disco Years, which was honored as “Best Photography Book” of 2006 by the New York Times. In 2010, Oscar-winner Leon Gast directed Smash His Camera, a documentary of Galella’s life and career. Smash His Camera premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Grand Jury Award for “Best Director” in the US Documentary category.

Dubbed “Paparazzo Extraordinaire” by Newsweek, and “the Godfather of US Paparazzi Culture” by Time and Vanity Fair, Galella was clearly willing to take great risks in getting the perfect off-guard picture. Galella endured two highly publicized court battles with his favorite subject, Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, a broken jaw and teeth at the hand of Marlon Brando, and a serious beating by Richard Burton’s bodyguards before being jailed in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Jacqueline (1974), Galella’s first autobiographical book, sold over 10,000 copies, one of which was given to Mrs. Onassis, who kept it in her library until she passed. That book is now kept, along with a copy of Jackie: My Obsession, in the JFK Library, which also houses hundreds of Galella’s photographs from the 1972 and 1981 trials. Galella lectured at the University of Miami’s Wilson Hicks International Visual Communications Conference in 1973, presenting “Photography with the Paparazzo Approach,” which saw him dubbed “Paparazzo Superstar” by the Miami Herald. Galella’s pictures are also installed on each of the eleven floors of the landmark Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

A native New Yorker, born in the Bronx, Galella served four years in the US Air Force as a camera repairman and photographer during the Korean conflict of 1951–1955. Later, under the GI Bill, Galella attended the ArtCenter College of Design, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in photojournalism. His work can be found at https://rongalella.com on instagram https://www.instagram.com/ron_galella/?hl=en and his photography is represented for editorial publishing through Getty Images.

Galella met his wife, Betty Lou Burke, in a most unusual way. Burke was a country girl from Somerset, Kentucky. After graduating college at the University of Eastern Kentucky, Burke went to Washington, DC, where she became vice president of Today Is Sunday magazine. Betty published Galella’s photos for publication, and assigned him credentials to cover events, and he fell in love with her warm, soft, loving southern voice over the phone. Galella met Betty in person for the first time on December 10, 1978, at the Kennedy Center premiere of Superman, for which she got him credentials. After taking one look at that beautiful face, he asked, “Are you married?” Burke replied that she wasn’t, to which Galella said, “I’m going to marry you.” Five months later, he did.

Once married, the Galellas became a photojournalist and editor team, and Betty became vice president of the Ron Galella, Ltd. photo agency. Betty passed away peacefully on January 9, 2017, one day before Galella’s eighty-sixth birthday. Sensing that she might not live to January 10, she had planned an early birthday celebration for Ron on November 20 of that year.

Ron’s father, Vincenzo Galella, was born in Muro Lucano, Italy, and was a cabinetmaker who held two jobs in America: at Steinway Pianos and the National Casket Company. Galella’s mother, Michelina, was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian parents originally from Benevento, Italy. Michelina Galella was a dressmaker who, unlike her husband Vincenzo, was interested in the world of glamour and fashion. She loved Vincenzo, in part because he looked like Charles Boyer. Michelina loved the accents of English actors like Cary Grant and Ronald Coleman, after whom she named Ron, her third son.

P.S. If I’m not invited into the pearly gates of heaven, I just might try sneaking in …

Note: Mr. Galella wrote his obituary

Ron is survived by his brother Vincent and 11 nieces and nephews, Paulette, Linda, Barbara, John, Louis, Richie, Stephen, Anthony, Nicholas, Peter, and Gloria, and 22 great nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his beloved wife Betty Lou Burke, Ron's brother's Louis and Nicholas, and sister Camille.