Longtime showbiz photographer William Read Woodfield, who later produced and wrote for TV’s “Mission: Impossible,” died Saturday Nov. 24 of a heart attack at UCLA Medical Center. He was 73.

Born and reared in San Francisco, Woodfield carved his photo niche during the 1950s and ’60s with published works being exhibited alongside Richard Avedon and Cecil Beaton. His most famous series of photographs were made May 23, 1962, when Marilyn Monroe performed her famous nude swimming scene on the 20th Century Fox lot for the uncompleted feature “Something’s Got to Give.” The photos made the covers of magazines worldwide and proved to be Monroe’s last hurrah as she was fired from the picture shortly thereafter and died 10 weeks later.

His first professional assignment was to photograph Elizabeth Taylor and her first baby. His photos of Jayne Mansfield for a Playboy spread sold more than 1 million copies.

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He also designed the photo campaigns for such features as “Spartacus” and “Judgement at Nuremberg.”

Later he segued to television and a new career as a writer-producer. A sampling of his TV credits include “Sea Hunt,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Shaft,” “Barbary Coast,” “Columbo,” “The Return of Ironside” and “Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host.”

A magician since childhood, Woodfield founded the magazine Magicana and employed his knowledge of magic on “Mission: Impossible,” “Columbo” and “Sea Hunt.”

He is survived by wife Lili, a son and a daughter.

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