She was always in the room

Young Ronnie Haran in New York holding her first box camera © Ronnie Haran

It started with a camera at five

Born Ronnie Rosenthal on August 9, 1939, she grew up between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Her father put a camera in her hands at five, and the two of them cut his home movies together.

At ten she was made head of the first March of Dimes "Mothers' March on Polio" for the Borough of Manhattan. The drive raised more than $3 million and put her in The New York Times. At fifteen she finished high school and left for Boston University to study theatre.

Ronnie Haran dancing with Joel Grey in Come September

Hollywood cast her. She kept shooting

She played Sparrow opposite Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin in Come September. Between takes, her camera came out. The people on set became her first subjects.

Film and Television Credits

Ronnie Haran in a black and white portrait from her acting years, early 1960s © Ronnie Haran

Television, guest starring

  1. Naked City Ethel, 1959
  2. Bachelor Father Ellen Burton, 1959
  3. The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis Whitney, 1960
  4. The Untouchables Tessie Bousso, 1960
  5. Ben Casey Abilene Hopewell, 1962
  6. Cheyenne Mary DeLieu, 1962
  7. Death Valley Days Natalie McAllister, 1962
  8. Wide Country Cally, 1963
  9. My Three Sons Dottie, 1964
  10. The Fugitive Sue-Ann Creyton, 1964
  11. The Munsters Her, 1965

Film

  1. Come September Sparrow, 1961
  2. The Stoolie Hertz Girl, and still photographer, 1972

Full credits on IMDb

She rewired the Sunset Strip

In 1965 Elmer Valentine hired her to do publicity for a struggling club called the Whisky a Go Go. She pushed for a kitchen so teenagers could get in, sold the plan to City Council, commissioned a psychedelic new logo and turned the room over to live rock.

$0

A week. Her starting pay as assistant publicist.

0

Weeks until she ran publicity for the whole club.

21

The new door age. A kitchen dropped it from 21 and filled the room.

Elmer Valentine, co-owner of the Whisky a Go Go
Elmer Valentine
© Ronnie Haran
The Byrds photographed by Ronnie Haran
The Byrds
© Ronnie Haran

She found The Doors

In his own words
© Ronnie Haran Jim Morrison on stage with Ray Manzarek, photographed by Ronnie Haran
May 9, 1966

She caught them at the London Fog the night they got fired. A week later they auditioned at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

May 23, 1966

First night as the house band, on a bill with Captain Beefheart and Buffalo Springfield.

All summer

They shared the stage with Love, Them and The Turtles. She got them into the musicians union, Local 47.

Feb 12, 1967

A Hullabaloo Club contract for $300. Signed by Robby Krieger, and by Ronnie, listed as agent.

The first woman to manage a rock band

Arthur Lee of Love smiling outdoors © Ronnie Haran
The band Love posing with candlesticks, photographed by Ronnie Haran © Ronnie Haran
We just want to be as big as Love.The Doors, to Ronnie, 1966

She signed Love and The Doors on a handshake, then rehearsed them, fought for their gigs and stood her ground in a room full of men who later took the credit.

Her photographs landed on the back of Love's Forever Changes in 1967. A year later she shot the cover of The Gentle Soul.

Ronnie Haran with Robby Krieger of The Doors backstage at the Whisky a Go Go © Ronnie Haran

Still in the room

Nearly sixty years later she is still backstage at the Whisky a Go Go, here with Robby Krieger of The Doors.

The archive is still talking

Photographs, contracts, magazines and recollections, with faces still being identified. Ronnie keeps a collection of more than 1,500 albums and the stories behind them.

Her archive runs to more than half a million images. This site shows a handful. A private selection, never shown before, sits in The Vault, open only to approved professionals under an NDA.

Ronnie Haran today, outdoors with her dog © Ronnie Haran