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| Photographer John Verzi, who died in 2018, left behind roughly 12,500 slides of celebrities he photographed over the years. The L.A. Central Library is now in possession of his collection. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) |
His camera caught the faces of change: Sharon Tate, Dennis Hopper, Mick Jagger, and into the 1970s with George C. Scott and Diana Ross and the 1980s with Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder.
He didn’t do it for money or recognition. He rarely sold a photo or a signature in what Bonhams auction house called “arguably the greatest autograph collection ever seen.” Verzi kept what he gathered in the dim sanctuary of the trailer he bequeathed in a handwritten will to Cherry Tolbert, his best friend at the Venice Post Office, where he had worked for 20 years, sorting letters, correcting ZIP Codes and rising to finance clerk.
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| Brigitte Bardot, left, attends an event promoting her film "Viva Maria." The date written on the slide is Dec. 18, 1965. Jimi Hendrix is photographed in the back seat of a car. Jon Verzi |
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| Judy Garland, left, is shown after her sold-out performance at the Hollywood Bowl. The date on the slide is Sept. 17, 1961. Warren Beatty stands in a parking lot. The date on the slide is Oct. 28, 1961. Jon Verzi |
When he died in 2018, Verzi was 83, alone and, according to friends, nearly broke. His nephew took his ashes to Malibu and scattered them along the ocean in a cove beyond Cher’s house.
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