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Weegee was the pseudonym of Arthur Fellig
(June 12, 1899 - December 26, 1968), an American photographer and photojournalist. Weegee was born Usher Fellig in Złoczew(Złoczów) near
Lemberg, Austrian Galicia (Central Europe)(now Zolochiv(russ.Zolochev), Ukraine). His name was changed to Arthur when he came with his family to live in New York in 1910.
He was a candid news photographer whose stark black and white shots documented life in New York City. The title of one of his collections, Naked City, became the title of a pioneering
realistic television police drama series.
Fellig's nickname was a phonetic
rendering of Ouija, a name he bestowed upon himself due to his frequent arrival at scenes
only minutes after crimes, fires or other emergencies were reported to authorities. In 1938, Fellig was the only reporter allowed to have a portable police-band radio in his car. He listened closely to
broadcasts and often beat authorities to the scene.
Most of his photos were taken with a 4x5 Speed Graphic camera preset at f/16 at 1/200 of a second with a
flash.
In 1958 he was a consultant for Stanley Kubrick's film, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and
Love the Bomb. His accent was purportedly the inspiration for the accent of the title character in Doctor
Strangelove.
A 1992 motion picture, The Public Eye, starred Joe Pesci as
a 1940s tabloid photographer who has a police radio in his car. TV Guide states that Pesci's character is "based, of course, on
Weegee" and imdb's trivia notes state that some of Fellig's photographs
are shown in the film (as having been taken by Pesci's character).
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