{{Short description|British photographer and designer (1904–1980)}} {{Use British English|date=March 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Cecil Beaton | honorific_prefix = Sir | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} | image = Sir Cecil Beaton, 1928 studio portrait (by Lafayette) – National Portrait Gallery (unframed).jpg | alt = | caption = Beaton in 1928 | birth_name = Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton | birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|1|14|df=y}} | birth_place = Hampstead, London, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|1|18|1904|1|14|df=y}} | death_place = Reddish House, Broad Chalke, Wiltshire, England | death_cause = | resting_place = All Saints' church graveyard, Broad Chalke, Wiltshire, England | occupation = {{hlist|Photographer|interior designer|socialite|writer|costume designer}} | education = Heath Mount School<br />St Cyprian's School<br />Harrow School<br />St John's College, Cambridge | relatives = Baba Beaton (sister)<br />Nancy Beaton (sister) }} '''Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British photographer, designer, and diarist. Renowned for his elegant and often theatrical style, Beaton's work appeared in leading publications such as ''Vogue'' and ''Harper's Bazaar''. He gained international acclaim for his portraits of celebrities, royalty, and socialites, as well as his work in fashion, theatre, and film. Though he is best known for his celebrity portraits, Beaton was also one of the most prolific photographers of life during World War II, taking over 7,000 photographs between 1940 and 1945 in Britain as well as in China and Africa.
In addition to his photography, Beaton won three Academy Awards, including two for Best Costume Design (''Gigi'', 1958; ''My Fair Lady'', 1964) and one for Best Art Direction (''My Fair Lady'', 1964), and received several Tony Awards for his work in theatre. He was also celebrated for his diaries and memoirs, which documented the cultural and social life of his era. Knighted in 1972, he was also recognized with numerous honors for his contributions to photography, design, and the arts, cementing his legacy as one of the 20th century's most influential visual artists.
==Early life and education== Beaton was born on 14 January 1904 in Hampstead, north London,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Foley|first1=Elizabeth|last2=Coates|first2=Beth|title=Advanced Homework for Grown-ups|date=2010|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-4090-8754-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=epipZTdwfWYC&pg=PT28 |access-date=14 December 2014}}</ref> the son of Ernest Walter Hardy Beaton (1867–1936), a prosperous timber merchant, and his wife, Esther "Etty" Sisson (1872–1962). His grandfather, Walter Hardy Beaton (1841–1904), had founded the family business of "Beaton Brothers Timber Merchants and Agents", and his father followed into the business. Ernest Beaton was an amateur actor and met Etty when playing the lead in a play. She was the daughter of a Cumbrian blacksmith named Joseph Sisson and had come to London to visit her married sister.{{sfn|Vickers|1985|p=}}{{pn|date=April 2026}}
Ernest and Etty Beaton had four children – Cecil; two daughters, Nancy Elizabeth Louise Beaton (1909–99, who married Sir Hugh Smiley, Bt.) and Barbara Jessica Beaton (1912–73, known as Baba, who married Alec Hambro); and another son, Reginald Ernest Hardy Beaton (1905–33).
Cecil Beaton was educated at Heath Mount School (where he was bullied by Evelyn Waugh) and St Cyprian's School, Eastbourne, where his artistic talent was quickly recognised. Both Cyril Connolly and Henry Longhurst report in their autobiographies being overwhelmed by the beauty of Beaton's singing at the St Cyprian's school concerts.<ref>{{cite book | last=Connolly | first=Cyril | title= Enemies of Promise| location= London | publisher= G Routledge & sons | year = 1938 | oclc = 123103671}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Longhurst | first = Henry | title = My Life and Soft Times | location=London | publisher=Cassell | year=1971 | isbn=978-0-304-93849-0 }}</ref>[[File:Cecil Beaton, and his sisters Nancy and Barbara, arriving at an Eton.jpg|thumb|Beaton alongside his sisters Nancy and Barbara, 1930]]When Beaton was growing up, his nanny had a Kodak 3A Camera, a popular model which was renowned for being an ideal piece of equipment to learn on. Beaton's nanny began teaching him the basics of photography and developing film. He would often get his sisters and mother to sit for him. When he was sufficiently proficient, he would send the photos off to London society magazines, often writing under a pen name and "recommending" the work of Beaton.<ref name= fynetimes>{{cite news | title = Cecil Beaton | url = http://www.fyne.co.uk/index.php?item=207 | work = Fyne Times | year = 2006 | access-date = 2008-05-09 | archive-date = 17 June 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080617204520/http://www.fyne.co.uk/index.php?item=207 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
Beaton attended Harrow School, and then, despite having little or no interest in academia, moved on to St John's College, Cambridge, and studied history, art and architecture.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Choudhury |first=Bedatri D. |date=2018-07-04 |title=A Film Digs Beneath the Dandy Persona of Cecil Beaton |url=https://hyperallergic.com/a-film-digs-beneath-the-dandy-persona-of-cecil-beaton/ |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=Hyperallergic |language=en}}</ref> Beaton continued his photography and, through his university contacts, got a portrait depicting the Duchess of Malfi published in ''Vogue''. It was actually George "Dadie" Rylands – "a slightly out-of-focus snapshot of him as Webster's Duchess of Malfi standing in the sub-aqueous light outside the men's lavatory of the ADC Theatre at Cambridge."<ref>Beaton, Cecil (1951). ''Photobiography''. London: Odhams Press, p.34.</ref> Beaton left Cambridge in 1925 without a degree.
==Career== ===Photography=== [[File:Cecil Beaton Photographs- General MH2718.jpg|left|thumb|Beaton's photograph of the bell towers of St Paul's Cathedral in London, seen through an archway after an incendiary raid, 1940]] After a short time in the family timber business, he worked with a cement merchant in Holborn. This resulted in "an orgy of photography at weekends", so he decided to strike out on his own.<ref>Beaton, Cecil (1951). ''Photobiography''. London: Odhams Press, p.40.</ref> Beaton's first camera was a Box Brownie.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cecil Beaton: A photographer with an eye for character |date=8 February 2021 |url=https://manorialcounselltd.co.uk/cecil-beaton-a-photographer-with-an-eye-for-character/ }}</ref> Over the course of his career, he employed both large format cameras, and smaller Rolleiflex cameras. In his early career Beaton's first published photograph appeared in ''British Vogue'' in April 1924, a portrait of academic George "Dadie" Rylands, which earned him a modest fee but marked the start of his professional life in photography.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Muir |first=Robin |date=2020-03-16 |title=From Tallulah Bankhead To Edith Sitwell, Honouring The Timeless Romance Of Cecil Beaton's Early Portraits |url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/cecil-beaton-bright-young-things |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=British Vogue |language=en-GB}}</ref>
After leaving Cambridge without a degree in 1925, he briefly worked on book jacket designs and theatrical costumes and learned photography at Paul Tanqueray's studio. Under the patronage of Osbert Sitwell he put on his first exhibition in the Cooling Gallery, London in 1927.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simpson |first=Mark |date=2020-04-13 |title=Cecil Beaton's Photos of the Bright Young Things and Britain at War |url=https://www.anothermanmag.com/life-culture/11177/cecil-beaton-bright-young-things-war-photography-national-portrait-gallery |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=AnotherMan |language=en}}</ref> That year, he began contributing regularly to ''Vogue'' under ''Condé Nast'', quickly becoming a prolific and respected contributor who photographed high society figures, debutantes, and aristocratic circles.<ref name=":3" /> He had "a contract with Condé Nast Publications to take photographs exclusively for them for several thousand pounds a year for several years to come."<ref>Beaton, Cecil (1951). ''Photobiography''. London: Odhams Press, p.56.</ref>[[File:Cecil Beaton Photographs- Political and Military Personalities; Chahnaz, Princess of Iran, Fawzieh, Queen of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlevi CBM2404.jpg|thumbnail|Beaton's photograph of Queen Fawzia Fuad Chirine with Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and their daughter, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi, in Tehran, 1942|262x262px]]Believing he would find greater success in the United States, Beaton moved to New York in 1928, gradually establishing his reputation.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Conrad |first=Peter |date=2012-01-06 |title=Cecil Beaton: The New York Years; The Radical Camera: New York's Photo League, 1936-1951 – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/jan/06/beaton-new-york-radical-camera-review |access-date=2026-04-06 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> He thereafter spent part of each year working in the city, living in stylish hotel suites he redecorated in his "Japanese art nouveau" style in exchange for reduced rent.<ref name=":4" /> He photographed high-society figures such as Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt and the future Duchess of Windsor, and even adopted disguises, including impersonating the notorious Lady Mendl at a fancy-dress ball.<ref name=":4" />
Beaton's early photographic style was distinctive for blending Edwardian stage portraiture with European avant‑garde influences, moving beyond the soft‑focus, imported American images that had dominated fashion magazines up to that point. Encounters with influential figures such as Edith Sitwell and Stephen Tennant helped shape his focus on elegance and the British upper class. Beaton's photographs of Tennant and his circle are regarded as some of the finest visual records of the Bright Young Things of the 1920s and 1930s, capturing the glamour and exuberance of that social milieu.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-05-10 |title=Bright young thing: the early work of Cecil Beaton |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2017/may/10/early-work-cecil-beaton-photography-beetles-and-huxley-in-pictures |access-date=2026-04-06 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ling |first=Joanna |date=2020-03-11 |title=Bright Young Things: A Glittering New Cecil Beaton Exhibition |url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/bright-young-things-a-glittering-new-cecil-beaton-exhibition |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=Sothebys.com |language=en}}</ref>[[File:Cecil Beaton Photographs- General; Beaton, Cecil IB2357.jpg|thumb|Beaton's self-portrait with his Rolleiflex reflected in a mirror of the Jain temple, Calcutta, India, 1944|left]]Beaton was renowned for his fashion photography and society portraits, capturing figures across British and international high society. He was a photographer for the British edition of ''Vogue'' in 1931 when George Hoyningen-Huene, photographer for French ''Vogue'', travelled to England with his new friend Horst. Horst himself would begin to work for French ''Vogue'' in November of that year. The exchange and cross pollination of ideas between this collegial circle of artists across the Channel and the Atlantic gave rise to the look of style and sophistication associated with the 1930s.<ref>{{cite magazine | title=Too, Too Vomitous | url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,740948-1,00.html | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930115141/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,740948-1,00.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= 30 September 2007 | magazine=Time | date=2 February 1931 | access-date=2008-05-09}}</ref>
In addition to contributing extensively to ''Vogue'' and working as a staff photographer for ''Vanity Fair'', and he also photographed Hollywood celebrities, including Katharine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, and Audrey Hepburn, as well as prominent political and royal figures. In 1938, Beaton became embroiled in controversy when he inserted small but legible anti-Semitic phrases, including the word "kike," into an illustration in American ''Vogue'' about New York society. The issue was recalled and reprinted, and Beaton was subsequently dismissed from the magazine.<ref name=":2" />
Beaton returned to England, where the Queen recommended him to the Ministry of Information (MoI). He became a leading war photographer, best known for his images of the damage done by the German Blitz. With his style sharpened and his range broadened, Beaton's career was restored by the war.<ref>Richard Holledge, "A Career Restored by War" ''Wall Street Journal,'' 29 Nov 2012, p D5</ref> Beaton took over 7,000 photographs between 1940 and 1945 in Britain as well as in China and Africa.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-08-31 |title=Cecil Beaton's rare war photography – in pictures |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2012/aug/31/cecil-beaton-war-photography-pictures |access-date=2026-04-06 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> [[File:Queen Elizabeth II on her Coronation Day (cropped 7-9).jpg|thumb|Beaton's photograph of Queen Elizabeth II on her coronation day, 1953]] During World War II, Beaton was first posted to the MoI and given the task of recording images from the home front. During this assignment he captured one of the most enduring images of British suffering during the war, that of 3-year-old Blitz victim Eileen Dunne recovering in hospital, clutching her beloved teddy bear. When the image was published, America had not yet joined the war, but images such as Beaton's helped push the Americans to put pressure on their government to help Britain in its hour of need.<ref name="fynetimes" />
Beaton's photographs of the British royal family played a central role in shaping the monarchy's public image.<ref name=":5">{{cite web | title=V&A Exploring Photography: Sir Cecil Beaton | publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum | url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/photography/photographerframe.php?photographerid=ph009 | access-date=2008-05-10 | archive-date=7 March 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307123601/http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/photography/photographerframe.php?photographerid=ph009 | url-status=live }}</ref> Beginning in the late 1930s, he developed a long-standing relationship with the royal household, photographing figures including Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother)—his favourite royal sitter—and Elizabeth II over several decades.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cecil Beaton: Royal Photographer · V&A |url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/cecil-beaton-royal-photographer |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=Victoria and Albert Museum |language=en}}</ref> His work ranged from highly staged, painterly compositions to more intimate portraits, balancing grandeur with accessibility; he once even kept the Queen Mother's scented handkerchief as a memento of a successful sitting.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Buchanan |first=Rebecca |date=2012-02-09 |title=Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton at the V&A Museum from 8th Feb-22nd April 2012 |url=https://www.arbuturian.com/culture/art/cecil-beaton-v-and-a |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=The Arbuturian |language=en-US}}</ref> Beaton's images captured key moments, such as the 1953 coronation of Elizabeth II and portraits of the royal children.<ref name=":5" /> He also produced notable images of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, including their wedding photographs, and his 1951 portrait of Princess Margaret in a Dior dress for her 21st birthday became one of the most iconic royal images of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Storochuck |first1=Jessica |title=Fashion Favourite: Princess Margaret and Christian Dior |url=https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/fashion-favourite-princess-margaret-and-christian-dior-164518/ |website=Royal Central |date=21 August 2021 |access-date=28 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="evogue">{{cite web |last1=Trotter |first1=Katie |title=10 Most Important Fashion Moments in History |url=https://en.vogue.me/fashion/10-historical-fashion-moments/ |website=Vogue Arabia |date=20 April 2020 |access-date=28 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="harpers">{{cite magazine |last1=Frost |first1=Karie |title=Princess Margaret's iconic 21st birthday gown goes on display at the V&A's Dior exhibition |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/fashion-news/a26084601/princess-margaret-birthday-portrait-gown-dior-exhibition/ |magazine=Harper's Bazaar |date=30 January 2019 |access-date=28 October 2021 |archive-date=31 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231111654/https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/fashion-news/a26084601/princess-margaret-birthday-portrait-gown-dior-exhibition/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 1951, Beaton published his memoir ''Photobiography''.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Cecil Beaton's "Photobiography" {{!}} Vogue {{!}} JUNE 1951 |url=https://archive.vogue.com/article/1951/6/1/cecil-beatons-photobiography |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=Vogue {{!}} The Complete Archive |language=en-US}}</ref> To coincide with its release, ''Vogue'' published a June 1951 photo spread highlighting his career, illustrating his progression from early society portraits to his later work in Hollywood, wartime photography, and official portraits of the British royal family.<ref name=":6" /> [[File:Andy-Warhol-and-Johnson-Twins-by-Cecil-Beaton-1969.jpg|thumb|Beaton's photograph of Andy Warhol with his partner Jed Johnson and Johnson's twin brother, Jay Johnson, at the Factory, 1969]] Beaton had a major influence on and relationship with Angus McBean and David Bailey. McBean was a well-known portrait photographer of his era. Later in his career, his work was influenced by Beaton. Bailey was influenced by Beaton when they met while working for British ''Vogue'' in the early 1960s. Bailey's use of square format (6x6) images is similar to Beaton's own working patterns.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
In 1968, the National Portrait Gallery in London mounted its inaugural photographic exhibition ''Beaton Portraits 1928-68''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Queen Elizabeth II |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw203801/Queen-Elizabeth-II#:~:text=In%201968%2C%20the%20National%20Portrait,in%20a%20British%20national%20museum. |website=National Portrait Gallery}}</ref> Furthermore, it was the first time a retrospective of a living photographer's work was shown at a British national museum. The exhibition, which was viewed by over 80,000 people, featured themed rooms with photographs of the royal family, war heroes, authors, composers, and celebrities.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Ling |first=Joanna |date=2018-06-01 |title=Cecil Beaton and the Exhibition that Changed Photography Forever |url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/cecil-beaton-and-the-exhibition-that-changed-photography-forever |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=Sothebys.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Suzt |date=1969-05-01 |title=Suzy Says: Tonight Is for Cecil |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-cecil-beaton-exhibition-at-th/157040253/ |access-date=2024-10-13 |work=Daily News |pages=12}}</ref> The exhibition travelled to the United States and was displayed as ''600 Faces by Beaton 1928-69'' at the Museum of the City of New York in 1969.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Deschin |first=Jacob |date=1969-05-11 |title=Beaton's Parade Of Personalities |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/05/11/archives/beatons-parade-of-personalities.html |access-date=2026-03-08 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Just weeks before the New York opening, Beaton photographed Andy Warhol and members of his Factory as a last-minute addition to the show.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Beaton |first1=Cecil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XwtwDwAAQBAJ |title=Cecil Beaton: The New York Years |last2=Albrecht |first2=Donald |last3=York |first3=Museum of the City of New |date=2011 |publisher=Rizzoli International Publications, Incorporated |isbn=978-0-8478-3565-2 |language=en}}</ref> The exhibition proved so popular that it was extended for a month and subsequently toured the country under museum auspices.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lyons |first=Leonard |date=1969-09-15 |title=The Lyons Den |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-news-600-faces-by-beaton-192/192901031/ |access-date=2026-03-08 |work=The Evening News |pages=22}}</ref>
In Fall 2025, a scrapbook assembled by darkroom assistant Roland Haupt of unpublished photographs by Beaton and Lee Miller surfaced from a private collection; photography dealer Michael Hoppen arranged the sale of the scrapbook to the University of Oxford's Bodleian Libraries in April 2026. The scrapbook includes Beaton's pictures of North Africa, as well as theatre sets and newspaper cuttings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AN ALBUM: A DAYBOOK WITH WORKS BY LEE MILLER, CECIL BEATON AND THEIR ASSISTANT ROLAND HAUPT {{!}} 3 November 2025 - 19 February 2026 |url=https://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/viewing-room/51-an-album-a-daybook-with-works-by-lee-an-exceptional-album-of-vintage-silver-gelatin-prints/ |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=Michael Hoppen Gallery |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-04-07 |title=Lost Cecil Beaton and Lee Miller Photos Turn Up in Old Scrapbook |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/beaton-miller-haupt-scrapbook-bodleian-2762346 |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}</ref>
===Stage and film design=== Beaton combined wide-ranging interests with notable versatility, achieving success across multiple artistic fields.<ref name=":6" /> He designed acclaimed costumes and sets for several ballets, and after the war created sets, costumes, and lighting for London and New York productions of Oscar Wilde's ''Lady Windermere's Fan''.<ref name=":6" /> In 1946, he also performed the role of Mr. Cecil Graham in the New York production for twenty-five weeks.<ref name=":6" /> In 1951, he designed costumes for Ronald Duncan's play at the Festival of Britain, while his own production, ''The Gainsborough Girls'', featuring his costume designs, opened at the Brighton Festival.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite web |title='Gainsborough's Girls' by Cecil Beaton |url=https://gainsborough.org/event/gainsboroughs-girls-by-cecil-beaton/ |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=Gainsborough's House |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[File:My Fair Lady Audrey Hepburn.jpg|thumb|Audrey Hepburn wearing a Beaton design in ''My Fair Lady'' (1964), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design]] His costumes for Lerner and Loewe's musical play ''My Fair Lady'' (1956) were highly praised. This led to him being the designer for two Lerner and Loewe film musicals, ''Gigi'' (1958) and ''My Fair Lady'' (1964), each of which earned Beaton the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. He also designed the period costumes for ''On a Clear Day You Can See Forever''.
His additional Broadway credits include ''The Grass Harp'' (1952), ''The Chalk Garden'' (1955), ''Saratoga'' (1959), ''Tenderloin'' (1960), and ''Coco'' (1969). He was the recipient of four Tony Awards.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=broadway world |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardspersoninfo.php?nomname=Cecil%20Beaton |website=broadwayworld.com}}</ref>
He designed the sets and costumes for a production of Giacomo Puccini's last opera'' Turandot'', first used at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and then at Covent Garden.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
Beaton designed the academic dress of the University of East Anglia.<ref>{{citation | last = Groves | first = Nicholas | title = The Academical Dress of the University of East Anglia | place = North Walsham | publisher = The Burgon Society | year = 2005}}.</ref>
===Diaries=== Cecil Beaton was a published and well-known diarist. In his lifetime, six volumes of diaries were published, spanning the years 1922–1974. A more selective but unexpurgated edition was published in 2003. Hugo Vickers, its editor, commented: "In the [earlier] published diaries, opinions are softened, celebrated figures are hailed as wonders and triumphs, whereas in the originals, Cecil can be as venomous as anyone I have ever read or heard in the most shocking of conversation."<ref>{{citation |last=Beaton |first=Cecil |editor-first=Hugo |editor-last=Vickers |title=The Unexpurgated Beaton Diaries |year=2003 |publisher=Orion Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-7538-1702-5}}.</ref>
==Later years and death== [[File:Reddish House Broad Chalke.jpg|thumb|Reddish House in Broad Chalke, Wiltshire|250x250px]]
=== Health issues and archive === He suffered a stroke that left him permanently paralysed on the right side of his body. Although he learnt to write and draw with his left hand, and had cameras adapted, Beaton became frustrated by the limitations the stroke had put upon his work. As a result of his stroke, Beaton became anxious about financial security for his old age and, in 1976, entered into negotiations with Philippe Garner, expert-in-charge of photographs at Sotheby's.
On behalf of the auction house, Garner acquired Beaton's archive – excluding all portraits of the Royal Family, and the five decades of prints held by ''Vogue'' in London, Paris and New York. Garner, who had almost single-handedly invented the photographic auction, oversaw the archive's preservation and partial dispersal, so that Beaton's only tangible assets, and what he considered his life's work, would ensure him an annual income. The first of five auctions was held in 1977, the last in 1980.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
=== Last public interview === The last public interview given by Sir Cecil Beaton was in January 1980 for an edition of the BBC's radio programme ''Desert Island Discs''. The interviewer was Roy Plomley. The recording was broadcast posthumously on Friday 1 February 1980 following the Beaton family's permission. Owing to Beaton's frailty, the interview was recorded at Beaton's home, Reddish House.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}[[File:Grave of Sir Cecil Beaton - Broad Chalke Churchyard - geograph.org.uk - 674690.jpg|thumb|Sir Cecil Beaton's grave at Broad Chalke Churchyard|370x370px]]Beaton, though frail, recalled events in his life, particularly from the 1930s and 1940s (the Blitz). Among the recollections were his associations with stars of Hollywood and British Royalty notably The Duke and Duchess of Windsor (whose official wedding photographs Beaton took on 3 June 1937 at relatively short notice); and official portraits of Queen Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) and Queen Elizabeth II on her Coronation day on 2 June 1953. The interview also alluded to a lifelong passion for performing arts and in particular ballet and operetta.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
The Beaton programme is considered to be almost the final words on an era of "Bright Young Things" whose sunset had taken place by the time of the abdication of Edward VIII. Beaton commented specifically on Wallis Simpson (later titled The Duchess of Windsor after her marriage to the former King Edward VIII). The Duchess of Windsor was still alive at the time of the original Beaton interview and broadcast.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
Beaton said that the one record that he would retain on the desert island should the others get washed away would be Beethoven's Symphony No 1, and his chosen book was a compendium of photographs he had taken down the years of "...people known and unknown; people known but now forgotten".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Desert Island Discs – Sir Cecil Beaton – BBC Sounds |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p009mwlh |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref>
=== Death === By the end of the 1970s, Beaton's health had faded. He died on 18 January 1980 at Reddish House, four days after his 76th birthday.<ref name="fynetimes" />
==Personal life== Beaton was known for his flamboyant personality and cultivated social circle, moving comfortably among aristocrats, artists, and celebrities.
=== Relationships and sexuality === [[File:Greta Garbo 1946 by Cecil Beaton.jpg|thumb|Greta Garbo photographed by Beaton, 1946]] Beaton never married, but he had relationships with various women, including actress Coral Browne, dancer Adele Astaire, Greek socialite Madame Jean Ralli (Julie Marie 'Lilia' Pringo),<ref>Madame Jean Ralli (1901-1978). Born in Athens. A childhood friend of Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark and of Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark. Later she worked for Christian Dior.</ref> and British socialite Doris Castlerosse.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Doris Delevingne: The Mistress of Mayfair |url=https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/doris-delevingne-the-mistress-of-mayfair/ |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=The History Press |language=en-GB}}</ref> Despite his public flamboyance and numerous affairs, Beaton privately struggled with the inability to live openly as a homosexual and much of his creative life was underlined by a life of careful discretion. "I'm a terrible homosexualist", he wrote in his diary.<ref name=":2" />
Beaton met actress Greta Garbo in 1932, and they renewed their acquaintance years later.{{Sfn|Vickers|1985|p=312}} In his 1951 memoir ''Photobiography'', Beaton said, "Of all the women I have ever seen, Miss Garbo is by far the most beautiful. After our first encounter in Hollywood, many years passed before I met her again; but the passage of time had only improved her lunar beauty, given her features a more chiselled sensitivity, and her expression a more touching nobility."<ref name=":6" /> His infatuation developed into a romantic but largely unreciprocated relationship in 1947, and although he considered marriage, he faced competition from Garbo's companion, George Schlee.{{Sfn|Vickers|1985|pp=350–356}} Their relationship was strained in part by critical remarks Beaton had written about her in his ''Scrapbook'' in 1937, which resurfaced publicly in 1951 and caused tension; they later reconciled somewhat and maintained a friendship.{{Sfn|Vickers|1985|p=356}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=1951-12-01 |title=Greta Garbo and Cecil Beaton; The film star has been staying with Cecil Beaton at his house in Wiltshire... |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sphere-greta-garbo-and-cecil-beaton/194973710/ |access-date=2026-04-06 |work=The Sphere |pages=369}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Andrews |first=Allen |date=1951-11-25 |title=Will Beaton Marry Garbo? |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-mirror-will-beaton-marry-garbo/194973813/ |access-date=2026-04-06 |work=Sunday Mirror |pages=10}}</ref> [[File:Cecil-Beaton-Peter-Watson-Oliver-Messel.jpg|thumb|Beaton with friends Peter Watson and Oliver Messel, c. 1930s]] Beaton had a deep love for British art collector Peter Watson, though the two never became lovers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-04-29 |title='Queer saint' Peter Watson left his mark on British culture by |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/queer-saint-peter-watson-left-his-mark-on-british-culture-by-bankrolling-artworld-giants-10213735.html |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=The Independent |language=en|last=Prodger|first=Michael Prodger}}</ref> Beaton met Watson in Vienna in 1930, initially finding him unremarkable, though he soon became captivated.{{Sfn|Vickers|1985|p=148}} The two spent time together traveling and visiting antique shops, and Beaton quickly developed a deep emotional attachment. During a subsequent trip to Venice, where they stayed with friends including Oliver Messel, Beaton's infatuation intensified, particularly as he cared for Watson during an illness.{{Sfn|Vickers|1985|pp=148–149}} However, Watson and Messel soon became romantically involved, leaving Beaton distressed but determined to win Watson's affection.{{Sfn|Vickers|1985|p=149}} This marked the beginning of a four-year period of intense obsession, during which Beaton closely imitated Watson's style and mannerisms.{{Sfn|Vickers|1985|p=149}} "Cecil's work and social life became of secondary consideration to this great passion, from which he never wholly freed himself," wrote biographer Hugo Vickers.{{Sfn|Vickers|1985|p=149}}
While working on the film ''My Fair Lady'' (1964), Beaton met American Olympic fencer Kinmont Hoitsma during a visit to San Francisco in March 1963.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Beaton |first=Cecil |url=http://archive.org/details/cecilbeatonportr0000ceci |title=Cecil Beaton: Portraits and Profiles |last2=Vickers |first2=Hugo |date=2017 |publisher=Quarto Publishing Group UK |others= |isbn=978-0-7112-3921-0 |pages=259}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite news |date=January 3, 2014 |title=Kinmont Hoitsma - Obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10549530/Kinmont-Hoitsma-obituary.html?ICID=continue_without_subscribing_reg_first |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> Staying with socialite Whitney Warren, Beaton explored the city's nightlife and encountered Hoitsma at the Tool Box bar; the two quickly formed a close bond, spending time hiking in Big Sur and camping in Yosemite Valley.<ref name=":9" /> Their relationship continued in London, where Hoitsma lived with Beaton in 1964.<ref name=":8" /> Although Hoitsma returned to California after a year, they remained close friends.<ref name=":9" /> In an August 1972 diary entry, Beaton wrote of Hoitsma: "We have a wonderful rapport. He is exactly the opposite of me, yet we complement one another so well. His brain is analytical, mine instinctive. We can criticise each other's work and are of great help. But Kin's great attraction to me is that he makes allowances."<ref name=":9" />
=== Residences === [[File:SIR CECIL BEATON 1904–1980 Photographer and Designer lived here 1940–1975.jpg|thumb|300x300px|A plaque honoring Beaton at 8 Pelham Place in London]] Beaton's homes were central to his creative life and reflected his interests in art, design, and entertaining. He leased Ashcombe House, a country estate in Wiltshire, from 1930 to 1945, where he hosted many notable figures and developed his theatrical interior style.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hirst |first=Arlene |date=2014-05-22 |title=In the Houses Where He Lived |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/garden/in-the-houses-where-he-lived.html |access-date=2024-09-08 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Beaton |first=Cecil |title=Ashcombe: The Story of a Fifteen-year Lease |date=1999 |publisher=Dovecote Press. |isbn=978-1-874336-66-2}}</ref>
In 1940, Beaton moved to 8 Pelham Place, a terraced house in Kensington, London designed in 1833 by George Basevi. He decorated it eclectically, mixing styles and paintings, and it was described by Chips Channon as a "tiny but super-attractive snuff-box of a house." In 1962 he updated the interiors in a contemporary style, featuring a mustard stair carpet and black velvet with gold embroidery. Over 35 years at Pelham Place, Beaton produced an extensive body of work, photographing figures including John Osborne, Arthur Miller, Rose Macaulay, Mick Jagger, Patrick Lichfield, Benjamin Britten, Twiggy, Sir William and Lady Walton, and Gilbert & George.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cecil Beaton {{!}} photographer, designer {{!}} Blue Plaques |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/beaton-sir-cecil/ |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=English Heritage}}</ref>
In 1947, he purchased the 17th-century Reddish House in Broad Chalke, also in Wiltshire, set in 2.5 acres of gardens. He transformed its interiors and gardens, adding rooms on the eastern side, extending the parlour southwards, and introducing many new fittings. He remained at the house until his death in 1980 and is buried in the parish church graveyard.<ref>{{cite book | last= Vickers| first= Hugo| title= The Unexpurgated Beaton: The Cecil Beaton Diaries as He Wrote Them, 1970–1980| year= 2003| publisher = Weidenfeld & Nicolson| location = London| isbn = 978-1-4000-4112-1}}</ref><ref name="Broad">{{citation | title = Broad Chalke, A History of a South Wiltshire Village, its Land & People Over 2,000 years | publisher = The People of the Village | year = 1999}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |website=Wiltshire Community History |title=Broad Chalke |url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/33 |publisher=Wiltshire Council |access-date=22 May 2023}}</ref>
His hotel suites in New York similarly served as stages for his refined taste and elaborate décor, with interiors that fuelled his passions for fashion, gardening, and village life.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Sabino |first=Catherine |date=2016-11-10 |title=Why New Book About Style Icon Cecil Beaton is the Fashion Crowd's Latest Must Have |url=https://hauteliving.com/2016/11/why-new-book-about-style-icon-cecil-beaton-is-the-fashion-crowds-latest-must-have/624348/ |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=Haute Living |language=en-US}}</ref> These spaces have since been the subject of exhibitions and publications exploring Beaton's approach to personal and domestic aesthetics.<ref name=":7" />
==Awards and honours== Throughout his career, Cecil Beaton received numerous awards and distinctions recognizing his work in theatre, film, and photography, as well as his contributions to British cultural life. * 1955 – Tony Award for Best Costume Design for ''Quadrille''<ref>{{Cite news |date=1955-03-28 |title=Tony awards given to 'Desperate Hours' and 'Pajama Game' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-star-tony-awards-given-to-despe/175076048/ |access-date=2025-06-23 |work=Washington Evening Star |pages=15 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * 1956 – Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) * 1957 – Tony Award for Best Costume Design for ''My Fair Lady'' * 1957 – Elected Fellow of the Ancient Monuments Society * 1958 – Academy Award for Best Costume Design for ''Gigi'' * 1960 – Tony Award for Best Costume Design for ''Saratoga'' * 1960 – Appointed Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur * 1964 – Academy Award for Best Art Direction for ''My Fair Lady'' * 1964 – ''Academy Award for Best Costume Design'' ''for My Fair Lady'' * 1965 – Named Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain * 1970 – Tony Award for Best Costume Design for ''Coco''<ref>{{Cite news |date=1970-04-20 |title=Tony Awards swept by first timers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-dispatch-tony-awards-swept-by-first/175076899/ |access-date=2025-06-23 |work=The Dispatch |pages=12 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * 1970 – Inducted into the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame List<ref>{{cite book | title=Ultimate Style – The Best of the Best Dressed List| pages= 116| isbn= 978-2-84323-513-9 | year=2004 | last1= Zilkha| first1= Bettina| publisher= Assouline}}</ref> * 1972 – Knighted (Knight Bachelor)<ref>{{cite web|title=Supplement to the London Gazette|url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/45554/supplements/1|date=31 December 1971|work=The London Gazette}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1972-01-01 |title=Cecil Beaton knighted - no life peers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-journal-cecil-beaton-knight/175076332/ |access-date=2025-06-23 |work=Nottingham Guardian |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * 2020 – English Heritage erected a plaque at Beaton's residence at 8 Pelham Place
These honours reflect Beaton's wide-ranging influence across fashion, theatre, and film, as well as his enduring legacy in 20th-century visual culture.
==Exhibitions== [[File:1932 Standard Rolleiflex.jpg|thumb|A 1932 Standard Rolleiflex, a type of camera used by Beaton]] An exhibition of his works, curated by David Alan Mellor, opened on 16 May 1986 at the Barbican Centre in London, and subsequently travelled to Barcelona and New York.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shepard |first=Richard F. |date=1986-05-27 |title=Cecil Beaton's World Of Fame and Fashion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/27/arts/cecil-beaton-s-world-of-fame-and-fashion.html |access-date=2024-09-08 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The New York exhibition was held from March to April 1988 and was divided between the Fashion Institute of Technology, whose exhibit focused on Beaton's fashion photography, and the Grey Art Gallery, whose exhibit focused on photographs of his personal life and celebrities.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alexander |first=Ron |date=1988-03-15 |title=A Life Con Brio: Celebrating Cecil Beaton |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/15/nyregion/a-life-con-brio-celebrating-cecil-beaton.html |access-date=2024-09-08 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
Major exhibitions have been held at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 1968 and in 2004.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Merl |first=Christina |date=October 4, 2004 |title=Cecil Beaton "Portraits" |url=https://www.shift.jp.org/en/archives/2004/10/cecil_beaton.html |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=SHIFT |language=en}}</ref>
The first international exhibition in thirty years, and first exhibition in Australia of his works, was held in Bendigo, Victoria from 10 December 2005 to 26 March 2006.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
In October 2011, the BBC's ''Antiques Roadshow'' featured an oil portrait by Beaton of rock star Mick Jagger, whom Beaton met in the 1960s. The painting, originally sold at the Le Fevre Gallery in 1966, was valued for insurance purposes at £30,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0167sm4|title=BBC One – Antiques Roadshow, Series 34, Hever Castle 1|website=BBC}}</ref>
The Museum of the City of New York dedicated an exhibition to Cecil Beaton from October 2011 to April 2012.<ref>{{cite web | title=Cecil Beaton | website=Museum of the City of New York | date=25 October 2011 | url=https://www.mcny.org/exhibition/cecil-beaton | access-date=25 April 2021}}</ref>
An exhibition celebrating The Queen's Diamond Jubilee and showing portraits of Her Majesty by Cecil Beaton, opened in October 2011 at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
''Cecil Beaton: Theatre of War'' at the Imperial War Museum in London was a major retrospective of Beaton's war photography, held from 6 September 2012 to 1 January 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/exhibitions/iwm-london/cecil-beaton-theatre-of-war|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103062412/http://www.iwm.org.uk/exhibitions/iwm-london/cecil-beaton-theatre-of-war|url-status=dead |title=Cecil Beaton: Theatre of War|archive-date=3 November 2012}}</ref>
''Cecil Beaton at Home: Ashcombe & Reddish'' at The Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire, which ran from 23 May to 19 September 2014, was a biographical retrospective focussing on Beaton's two Wiltshire houses, and brought together for the first time many art works and possessions from both eras of Beaton's life. The exhibition included a full-size reproduction of the murals and four-poster bed from the Circus Bedroom at Ashcombe, as well as a section of the drawing room at Reddish House.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
''Cecil Beaton's Fashionable World'' at the National Portrait Gallery in London ran from 9 October 2025 to 11 January 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cecil Beaton's Fashionable World - National Portrait Gallery |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2025/cecil-beaton/?_gl=1*nm1hai*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..*_ga*NTc4OTg5MjAwLjE3NTAzNjEyODE.*_ga_3D53N72CHJ*czE3NTAzNjEyODAkbzEkZzEkdDE3NTAzNjEyODEkajU5JGwwJGgw&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjr7-7Jv-jQMV6ExHAR3qqSRVEAAYASABEgKs6PD_BwE&gbraid=0AAAAAoK5MEjLPtZdpJGCqKGMUOMM-MFW0 |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=www.npg.org.uk}}</ref>
''Cecil Beaton's Garden Party'' ran at The Garden Museum from May to September 2025.<ref>{{cite web | title=Cecil Beaton's Garden Party | website=The Garden Museum | url=https://gardenmuseum.org.uk/exhibitions/cecil-beatons-garden-party/ | access-date=14 September 2025}}</ref>
==In popular culture== In the 1989 Australian film ''Darlings of the Gods'', Beaton was portrayed by Shane Briant. In the 2010 series ''Upstairs Downstairs'' (series 1, episode 3), Beaton was portrayed by Christopher Harper. In Netflix's 2016 series ''The Crown'', Beaton was portrayed by Mark Tandy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-11-07 |title=What 14 Characters from 'The Crown' Look Like in Real Life |url=https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/articles/g32315/the-crown-characters-real-life-royal-family-photos/ |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=ELLE |language=en-GB}}</ref> In the 2023 film ''Lee'', Beaton was portrayed by Samuel Barnett.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Samuel Barnett {{!}} Actor, Music Department, Soundtrack |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1154650/?ref_=tt_cl_t_9 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124184655/https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1154650/?ref_=tt_cl_t_9 |archive-date=24 January 2025 |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Publications== ===Selected works=== <!---Needs cutting down.---> {{unreferenced section|date=April 2021}} * ''The Book of Beauty'' (Duckworth, 1930) * ''Cecil Beaton's Scrapbook'' (Batsford, 1937) * ''Cecil Beaton's New York'' (Batsford, 1938) * ''My Royal Past'' (Batsford, 1939) * ''History Under Fire'' with James Pope-Hennessy (Batsford, 1941) * ''Time Exposure'' with Peter Quennell (Batsford, 1941) * ''Air of Glory'' (HMSO, 1941) * ''Winged Squadrons'' (Hutchinson, 1942) * ''Near East'' (Batsford, 1943) * ''British Photographers'' (William Collins, 1944) * ''Far East'' (Batsford, 1945) * ''Cecil Beaton's Indian Album'' (Batsford, 1945–6, republished as ''Indian Diary and Album'', OUP, 1991) * ''Cecil Beaton's Chinese Album'' (Batsford, 1945–6) * ''India'' (Thacker & Co., 1945) * ''Portrait of New York'' (Batsford, 1948) * ''Ashcombe: The Story of a Fifteen-Year Lease'' (Batsford, 1949) * ''Photobiography'' (Doubleday & Company, 1951) * ''Ballet'' (Allan Wingate, 1951) * ''Persona Grata'' with Kenneth Tynan (Allan Wingate, 1953) * ''The Glass of Fashion'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1954) * ''It Gives Me Great Pleasure'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1956) * ''The Face of the World: An International Scrapbook of People and Places'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1957) * ''Japanese'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1959) * ''Quail in Aspic: The Life Story of Count Charles Korsetz'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1962) * ''Images'' with a preface by Edith Sitwell and an introduction by Christopher Isherwood (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1963) * ''Royal Portraits'' with an introduction by Peter Quennell (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1963) * ''Cecil Beaton's 'Fair Lady{{'-}}'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1964) * ''The Best of Beaton'' with an introduction by Truman Capote (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1968) * ''My Bolivian Aunt: A Memoir'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1971)
===Diaries=== * ''Cecil Beaton's Diaries: 1922–39 The Wandering Years'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1961) * ''Cecil Beaton's Diaries: 1939–44 The Years Between'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1965) * ''Cecil Beaton's Diaries: 1944–48 The Happy Years'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1972) * ''Cecil Beaton's Diaries: 1948–55 The Strenuous Years'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1973) * ''Cecil Beaton's Diaries: 1955–63 The Restless Years'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1976) * ''Cecil Beaton's Diaries: 1963–74 The Parting Years'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1978) * ''Self Portrait with Friends: The Selected Diaries of Cecil Beaton 1926–1974'' edited by Richard Buckle (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1979) * ''The Unexpurgated Beaton: The Cecil Beaton Diaries as they were written'' with an introduction by Hugo Vickers (Orion, 2003) * ''Beaton in the Sixties: More Unexpurgated Diaries'' with an introduction by Hugo Vickers (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004)
==Notable portrait sessions== <!---Needs citations and cutting down---> {{div col|colwidth=22em}} * ''Sir William Walton'', 1926 * ''Stephen Tennant'', 1927 * ''Lady Diana Cooper'', 1928 * ''Charles James (designer)'', 1929 * ''Lillian Gish'', 1929 * ''Oliver Messel'', 1929 * ''Lord David Cecil'', 1930 * ''Lady Georgia Sitwell'', 1930 * ''Gary Cooper'', 1931 * ''Molly Fink'', 1926 * ''Storm Jameson'', 1932 * ''Pablo Picasso'', 1933 * ''Helen Hope Montgomery Scott'', 1933 * ''Dürrüşehvar Sultan'', 1933 * ''Marlene Dietrich'', 1935 * ''Salvador Dalí'', 1936 * ''Natalie Paley'', 1936 * ''Aldous Huxley'', 1936 * ''Daisy Fellowes'', 1937 * ''Helen of Greece and Denmark, Queen Mother of Romania'', 1937 * ''Lady Ursula Manners'', 1937 * ''Queen Sita Devi of Kapurthala'', 1940 * ''Winston Churchill'', 1940 * ''Graham Sutherland'', 1940 * ''Charles de Gaulle'', 1941 * ''Walter Sickert'', 1942 * ''Maharani Gayatri Devi, Rajmata of Jaipur'', 1943 * ''John Pope-Hennessy'', 1945 * ''Isabel Jeans'', 1945 * ''Greta Garbo'', 1946 * ''Yul Brynner'', 1946 * ''Marlon Brando'', 1946<ref>{{Cite journal |date=August 15, 1946 |title=A good man is hard to find... |journal=Vogue |volume=108 |issue=3 |pages=173}}</ref> * ''Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt, Queen of Iran'' * ''Vivien Leigh'', 1947 * ''Truman Capote'', 1948–1949 * ''Bobby Henrey'', 1948 * ''Countess Cristiana Brandolini d'Adda'', 1951 * ''Duchess of Windsor'', 1951 * ''Vita Sackville-West'', 1952 * ''Graham Greene'', 1953 * ''Elizabeth II's Coronation'', 1953 * ''Alexis von Rosenberg, Baron de Redé'', 1953 * ''Elizabeth Taylor'', 1954 * ''Grace Kelly'', 1954 * ''Mona von Bismarck'', 1955 * ''Bernard Berenson'', 1955 * ''Joan Crawford'', 1956 * ''Mrs. Charles (Jayne Wrightsman)'', 1956 * ''Maria Callas'', 1956 * ''Dame Edith Sitwell'', 1956 * ''Colin Wilson'', 1956 * ''Marilyn Monroe'', 1956 * ''Leslie Caron'', 1957 * ''Dolores Guinness'', 1958 * ''Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon'', 1960 * ''Albert Finney'', 1961 * ''Cristóbal Balenciaga'', 1962 * ''Lee Radziwill'', 1962 * ''Karen Blixen'', 1962 * ''Rudolf Nureyev'', 1963 * ''Audrey Hepburn'', 1964 * ''Margot Fonteyn'', 1965 * ''Jacqueline Kennedy'', 1965 * ''Sheridan Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 5th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava'', 1965 * ''Jamie Wyeth'', 1966 * ''Georgia O'Keeffe'', 1966 * ''Twiggy'', 1967 * ''Mick Jagger'', 1968 * ''Andy Warhol'', 1969 * ''Katharine Hepburn'', 1969 * ''Barbra Streisand'', 1969 * ''Gloria Guinness'', 1970 * ''Hubert de Givenchy'', 1970 * ''Mae West'', 1970 * ''David Hockney'', 1970 * ''Jane Birkin'', 1971 * ''Marie-Hélène de Rothschild'', 1971 * ''Marisa Berenson'' as ''Luisa Casati'', 1971 * ''Jacqueline de Ribes'', 1971 * ''Pauline de Rothschild'', 1972 * ''Tina Chow'', 1973 * ''Gilbert & George'', 1974 * ''Inès de La Fressange'', 1978 * ''Paloma Picasso'', 1978 * ''Caroline of Monaco'', 1978 * ''Dayle Haddon'', 1979 {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
== Bibliography == * {{cite book |last=Vickers |first=Hugo |title=Cecil Beaton: The Authorised Biography |location=London |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-297-78405-0}} * {{cite book | last=Spencer | first=Charles | title=Cecil Beaton Stage and Film Designs | location=London | publisher=Academy Editions | year=1995 | isbn=978-1-85490-398-3}} * {{cite book | last=Vickers | first=Hugo | title=The Cecil Beaton Diaries, as They Were Written| location=New York | year=2003 | isbn = 978-0-7538-1702-5}} * {{cite book | last=Wild| first=Benjamin| title=A Life in Fashion: The Wardrobe of Cecil Beaton| location=London| year=2016 | isbn = 978-0-500-51833-5}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * [https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/cecil-beaton-an-introduction?srsltid=AfmBOor5lk4c4LGv7bf0ZfHVXATQu2rGecw4VBzBM5OGIwLZMCcObDba Cecil Beaton at the Victoria & Albert Museum] * {{Screenonline name|570903}} * {{FMD designer|name=Sir Cecil Beaton}} * {{IBDB name|24657}} * {{IMDb name|nm0064100}} * {{NPG name|05064}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181858/http://www.bris.ac.uk/theatrecollection/search/people_sub_plays?forename=Cecil&surname=BEATON&job=Designer&pid=69&image_view=Yes&x=19&y=17 Theatre Archive University of Bristol] * {{cite web |publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/photography/photographerframe.php?photographerid=ph009 |title=Selection of photographs by Cecil Beaton |date=29 July 2015 |access-date=17 May 2007 |archive-date=7 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307123601/http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/photography/photographerframe.php?photographerid=ph009 |url-status=dead }} * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100529000754/http://www.cecilbeatonfabrics.com/ Cecil Beaton textile designs designed in 1948 for Zika Ascher]}} * [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009mwlh Cecil Beaton] interview on BBC Radio 4 ''Desert Island Discs'', 1 February 1980
===Archival resources=== * [http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0275%2FBeaton Papers of Sir Cecil Beaton] (1922–1980, 38 archival boxes) at St John's College, Cambridge * [http://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/C1194/#description Cecil Beaton Papers] (1938–1979, 1 archival box) at Princeton University Library * [https://web.archive.org/web/20151018145035/http://www.sothebys.com/en/inside/services/picture-library/overview.html Cecil Beaton Studio Archive] at Sotheby's Picture Library * [https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/findingAid.cfm?eadID=00150 W.H. Crain Costume and Scene Design Collection] at the Harry Ransom Center
{{Navboxes | title = Awards for Cecil Beaton | list = {{Academy Award Best Costume Design}} {{AcademyAwardBestArtDirection 1961–1980}} {{TonyAward CostumeDesign 1947-1975}} }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaton, Cecil}} Category:1904 births Category:1980 deaths Category:20th-century English diarists Category:20th-century English LGBTQ people Category:20th-century British photographers Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Category:Best Costume Design Academy Award winners Category:Best Production Design Academy Award winners Category:Bisexual painters Category:Bisexual photographers Category:Bisexual male artists Category:British bisexual artists Category:British bisexual men Category:British fashion photographers Category:British portrait photographers Category:British war photographers Category:Broadway scenic designers Category:Civil servants in the Ministry of Information (United Kingdom) Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Donaldson Award winners Category:English costume designers Category:English interior designers Category:English LGBTQ painters Category:English LGBTQ photographers Category:English scenic designers Category:English socialites Category:Fashion illustrators Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour Category:LGBTQ fashion designers Category:LGBTQ people from London Category:Opera designers Category:Painters from the London Borough of Camden Category:Photographers from the London Borough of Camden Category:Photography in India Category:Photography in Japan Category:People associated with the University of East Anglia Category:People educated at Harrow School Category:People educated at Heath Mount School Category:People educated at St Cyprian's School Category:People from Hampstead Category:Theatrical photographers Category:Tony Award winners Category:Writers from the London Borough of Camden Category:British recipients of the Legion of Honour