Earl Steffa Moran (1893 –1984), born in Belle Plaine, Iowa,
was the 20th Century pin-up and
glamour artist. Moran's first instruction in art came under the direction of
John Stich, an elderly German artist who also taught the great illustrator
W.H.D. Koerner. Moran studied at the Chicago Art Institute and later at the
famed Art Students League in Manhattan.
Moran signed an exclusive contract with Brown and Bigelow in
1932 and by 1937, his pinups had sold millions of calendars for the company. In
1940, Life ran a feature article entitled "Speaking of Pictures"
which mostly focused on Moran's work and made him a national celebrity. In
1941, Moran helped the magazine publisher, Robert Harrison, to launch a new
men's magazine called Beauty Parade, and he later contributed pin-ups to other
Harrison magazines such as Flirt, Wink and Giggles.
Moran lived in the San Fernando Valley from 1951 to 1955,
hosting fabulous parties, directing and starring in short television films,
painting portraits of Earl Carroll's Vanities Girls, and maintaining his
position as a star of the pin-up world.
Moran died in Santa Monica, CA on January 17, 1984
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