ALLAN GRANT, 88

Celebrity photographer

Allan Grant, a Life magazine photographer who got the last photo shoot with Marilyn Monroe weeks before her death, died Feb. 1 of pneumonia related to Parkinson's disease at his Los Angeles home, according to his wife, Karin.

In their glory days, photographers for magazines such as Life had extraordinary access to Hollywood and to history-making events. Mr. Grant shot atomic bomb tests in the Nevada desert in the early 1950s, as well as Howard Hughes' memorable 1947 flight in the H-4 airplane that became known as the Spruce Goose. He photographed the Academy Awards, where he once captured Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly poised for the Best Actress announcement at the 1955 ceremonies.

Colleagues recalled that Mr. Grant was also a fine spot-news photographer and once captured then-Vice President Richard M. Nixon, dressed in slacks and a tie, atop his rented Los Angeles house, hosing down the roof during a catastrophic fire in 1961.

He photographed Ms. Monroe at her home for a Life magazine profile that appeared in its Aug. 3, 1962, issue. She died two days later.

Richard "Dick" Stolley, the Los Angeles bureau chief for Life magazine in 1963, recalled Mr. Grant as "very handsome and glamorous, two virtues that made him popular in Hollywood," Mr. Stolley said in a statement.