William Figge

William Figge
Born
William Vassar Figge

(1919-03-25)March 25, 1919
Iowa, U.S.
DiedMay 1976 (1976-06) (aged 57)
Glendale, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Southern California
OccupationPhotographer
Spouse
Melba Lacayo
​
(m. 1945)​
Children4

William Vassar Figge (March 25, 1919 – May 1976) was an American photographer who, along with his wife Melba, ran a photography studio in Glendale, California.

Biography

Figge was a combat photographer in World War II. After the war, he failed to find work as a cinematographer, so he stayed with photography and specialised in portraiture, shooting weddings and contributing to Playboy magazine. Notably, he discovered many Playmates at weddings. Bill Figge, as he is sometimes called, shot 48 gatefolds and 3 covers. The couple ceased contributing to Playboy when the magazine became more risqué in the 1980s.[1]

Bill and Melba had three sons, (Greg, Stephan and Eric,) and one daughter (Leslie). Greg and Leslie run the studio that their parents began, Figge Studios. Eric, the only child to have formal education in photography, photographs architecture professionally.[2]

Figge died in Glendale, California, at the age of 57.[3]

Playboy centerfolds

References

  1. ^ "Behind the camera of '60s Playboys". Daily Pilot. June 4, 2005. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011.
  2. ^ O'Dell, John (September 22, 1992). "Architecture Photos Were Worth a Shot : His Parents Are Noted for Portraiture, but Erig Figge Branched Out Into Buildings". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ Zint, Bradley (February 5, 2015). "Melba Figge, free-spirited photographer and studio owner, dies at 92". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ "Bill Figge Gatefold Shoots". Vintage Playboy Mags. Retrieved March 21, 2018.