Portrait Photographer. Born Ruth Goldstein in New York City, to Rabbi Jacob Goldstein and Klara Jacobsen Goldstein. Her brother was film writer-director Mark Sandrich and her cousin was silent film actress Carmel Meyers. Her father accepted a position with Temple Anshe Emeth in New Brunswick, New Jersey, moving the family there in 1921. It was there that Ruth began pursuing her interests in music and the theater, appearing in local musical comedies staged by the youth of the temple. In 1922, she set up shop as a commercial portrait photographer, using the professional name Ruth Harriet Louise. She moved to Los Angeles in 1925, following her brother and his wife there. She set herself up in a small studio at the corner of Vine and Hollywood, close to the Famous-Players Lasky Studio. With help from her cousin Carmel, she landed a contract with MGM as a portrait photographer in 1925. Her first published image was a portrait of Vilma Banky from "The Dark Angel," which appeared in Photoplay magazine in Sept.1925. She went on to gain renown for her portraits of the MGM stars of the day, including Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Lon Chaney, Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Marion Davies, Ramon Novarro, Marie Dressler, Renee Adoree, William Haines, Dorothy Sebastian and Anita Page. She married writer-director Leigh Jason (Jacobson) in August 1927, and remained with MGM until the end of 1929, when her contract was not renewed. She continued to work in a free-lance capacity while raising her son and daughter. Her son Leigh Jr. was born in 1932 and died tragically of leukemia in 1938. Ruth died at age 37, from complications of childbirth; the baby boy, born premature, also died. Mother and son were buried together. A comprehensive study of her work can be found in "Ruth Harriet Louise and Hollywood Glamour Photography" by Robert Dance and Bruce Robertson, published in 2002 by the University of California Press.
Portrait Photographer. Born Ruth Goldstein in New York City, to Rabbi Jacob Goldstein and Klara Jacobsen Goldstein. Her brother was film writer-director Mark Sandrich and her cousin was silent film actress Carmel Meyers. Her father accepted a position with Temple Anshe Emeth in New Brunswick, New Jersey, moving the family there in 1921. It was there that Ruth began pursuing her interests in music and the theater, appearing in local musical comedies staged by the youth of the temple. In 1922, she set up shop as a commercial portrait photographer, using the professional name Ruth Harriet Louise. She moved to Los Angeles in 1925, following her brother and his wife there. She set herself up in a small studio at the corner of Vine and Hollywood, close to the Famous-Players Lasky Studio. With help from her cousin Carmel, she landed a contract with MGM as a portrait photographer in 1925. Her first published image was a portrait of Vilma Banky from "The Dark Angel," which appeared in Photoplay magazine in Sept.1925. She went on to gain renown for her portraits of the MGM stars of the day, including Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Lon Chaney, Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Marion Davies, Ramon Novarro, Marie Dressler, Renee Adoree, William Haines, Dorothy Sebastian and Anita Page. She married writer-director Leigh Jason (Jacobson) in August 1927, and remained with MGM until the end of 1929, when her contract was not renewed. She continued to work in a free-lance capacity while raising her son and daughter. Her son Leigh Jr. was born in 1932 and died tragically of leukemia in 1938. Ruth died at age 37, from complications of childbirth; the baby boy, born premature, also died. Mother and son were buried together. A comprehensive study of her work can be found in "Ruth Harriet Louise and Hollywood Glamour Photography" by Robert Dance and Bruce Robertson, published in 2002 by the University of California Press.
Bio by: James Lacy
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