Trivia

One of the first paparazzi.

On June 12, 1973, actor Marlon Brando punched Galella in the face outside a restaurant in Chinatown in New York City, breaking the photographer's jaw and knocking out five of his teeth on the left side of his mouth. Galella had been following Brando, who was accompanied by Dick Cavett, to the restaurant after a taping of The Dick Cavett Show earlier that day. Galella hired lawyers Stuart Schlesinger and Alfred Julien to sue Brando and ultimately settled for US$40,000. Schlesinger reported in the 2010 documentary "Smash His Camera" that Galella received two-thirds, but only cared about getting the message out, "I don't want anyone to think they can go around punching me if I am taking their picture. Get that story out, not the money." The next time Galella chased Brando, he wore a football helmet.

One of Galella's pictures depicting Jacqueline Onassis, dubbed "Windblown Jackie," was included among "The Most Influential Images of All Time" by Time magazine in 2016.

Despite the numerous controversies and claims of stalking, Galella's work was praised and exhibited in art galleries worldwide.

In his in-home darkroom, Galella made his own prints which have been exhibited at museums and galleries throughout the world, including the MoMA in New York City, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Modern in London, and the Helmut Newton Foundation Museum of Photography in Berlin.

In his free time, Galella took pictures of the stars arriving at film premieres, selling them to magazines like National Enquirer and Photoplay.

After graduating high school, he won a two-year scholarship at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn but turned it down due to his deficiencies in mathematics.

During his career, Galella took more than three million photographs of public figures.

Galella served as a United States Air Force photographer from 1951 to 1955, including during the Korean War. He later attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, graduating with a degree in photojournalism in 1958.

He became known for his photographic approach, portraying famous people out of the spotlight, usually in spontaneous expressions.

Elizabeth Taylor, who tended to be tolerant towards photographers, was often heard to mutter, "I'm going to kill Ron Galella!", although the actress would later use his photographs in her biography.

Galella once lost a tooth when he was beaten by Richard Burton's security guards.

Galella's targets included Elvis Presley, whose bodyguards slashed his tires, Brigitte Bardot, whose security staff hosed him down, the restaurateur Elaine Kaufman of Elaine's who once threw a trashcan lid at his head, and Sean Penn, who spat at him and reportedly punched him while being photographed with his then-wife Madonna.

He was praised by Andy Warhol, who said: "My idea of a good picture is one that's in focus and of a famous person doing something unfamous. It's being in the right place at the wrong time. That's why my favorite photographer is Ron Galella.".

Ron Galella was known for his obsessive picture taking of Jacqueline Onassis and the subsequent legal battles associated with it. The New York Post called it "the most co-dependent celeb-pap[arazzo] relationship ever".