Skip to content

Top Navigation

EW.com EW.com
    • All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • Recaps
    • What to Watch
    • Winter TV
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Horror
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
    • All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
    • All Music
    • Music Reviews
    • All What to Watch
    • What to Watch Podcast Episodes
    • TV Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • All BINGE
    • EW's Binge Podcast Episodes
    • Recaps
    • The Bachelor
    • The Last of Us
    • RuPaul's Drag Race
    • You
    • The Masked Singer
    • Yellowstone
    • Saturday Night Live
    • Outer Banks
    • All The Awardist
    • The Awardist Podcast Episodes
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
    • All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
    • All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
    • All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe

Explore EW.com

EW.com EW.com
  • Explore

    Explore

    • The Fast and the Furious cast: Where are they now?

      The Fast and the Furious cast: Where are they now?

      Catch up with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and the rest of your favorite stars from the film that kicked off the hit franchise. Read More
    • How Grant Gustin runs The Flash — and the Arrowverse — across the finish line 

      How Grant Gustin runs The Flash — and the Arrowverse — across the finish line 

      The actor explains why he decided to end the CW’s last remaining Arrowverse show after nine seasons, and teases what to expect from next week’s epic series finale. Read More
    • Michelle Yeoh on the significance of American Born Chinese and her 'respectful' goddess action scenes

      Michelle Yeoh on the significance of American Born Chinese and her 'respectful' goddess action scenes

      The Academy Award winner previews the Disney+ action comedy series rooted in Chinese mythology: “Our culture, our heritage, is so steeped with history and beauty." Read More
  • TV

    TV

    See All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • Recaps
    • What to Watch
    • Winter TV
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Horror
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
  • Movies

    Movies

    See All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
  • Music

    Music

    See All Music
    • Music Reviews
  • What to Watch

    What to Watch

    See All What to Watch
    • What to Watch Podcast Episodes
    • TV Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
  • BINGE

    BINGE

    See All BINGE
    • EW's Binge Podcast Episodes
    • Recaps
    • The Bachelor
    • The Last of Us
    • RuPaul's Drag Race
    • You
    • The Masked Singer
    • Yellowstone
    • Saturday Night Live
    • Outer Banks
  • The Awardist

    The Awardist

    See All The Awardist
    • The Awardist Podcast Episodes
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
  • Books

    Books

    See All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
  • Theater

    Theater

    See All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
  • Events

    Events

    See All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Gallery
  3. Harper Lee: Her Life in Pictures

Harper Lee: Her Life in Pictures

A look back at the iconic author's life
By Cristina Everett Updated February 19, 2016 at 08:32 PM EST
Skip gallery slides
FB

1 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

The Life of Harper Lee

The Life of Harper Lee
Credit: Robert Sutton/The Tuscaloosa News/AP; Everett Collection

Harper Lee, the American author who penned the timeless classic To Kill a Mockingbird, died Feb. 18, 2016 in her hometown Monroeville, Alabama. In honor of the late author, take a look back of how her work changed the literary and cinematic worlds.

 

1 of 14

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

March 14, 1963

March 14, 1963
Credit: AP

Harper Lee considered getting into the family business but quit law school one semester shy of graduating to make herself a writer. In 1949, she moved to New York and spent almost a decade crafting short stories no editor found publishable. But then her agent suggested that she expand one story into a novel, and To Kill a Mockingbird appeared in July 1960. In its first year out, the book sold 500,000 copies and won the Pulitzer.

 

2 of 14

3 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

1962

1962
Credit: Everett Collection

The 1962 film version of To Kill a Mockingbird was nominated for eight Oscars and won three, including a Best Actor trophy for Gregory Peck. The actor (left) is pictured greeting Lee (right) upon her arrival in Los Angeles in connection with the special opening of the film.

 

3 of 14

Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

4 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

1962

1962
Credit: Everett Collection

Mary Badham, who played Scout in the film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird with author Lee on set.

 

4 of 14

Advertisement

5 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Jan. 23, 2004

Jan. 23, 2004
Credit: Robert Sutton/The Tuscaloosa News/AP

As years passed and no new book appeared, gossip filled the void: Lee was crafting her memoirs. She was working a nonfiction story about a murderous Alabama preacher. Soon she began swearing that she’d changed her mind: She’d never publish another book.

 

5 of 14

6 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

May 19, 2005

May 19, 2005
Credit: Christine Cotter/AP

Lee poses with actress Annette Benning at a dinner held by the Richard Riordan Central Library in Los Angeles.

 

6 of 14

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

7 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

May 19, 2005

May 19, 2005
Credit: Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images

Lee (r.) receives her award at the Library Foundation of Los Angeles 2005 Awards Dinner at the City National Plaza.

 

7 of 14

Advertisement
Advertisement

8 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

2006

2006
Credit: Matt Cashore/AP

University of Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins (l.), author Harper Lee (c.), and Notre Dame board of trustees president Patrick McCartan look out at the graduates of the class of 2006 as they hold up copies of Lee's book To Kill a Mockingbird during commencent ceremonies in South Bend, Ind. Notre Dame had awarded Lee an honorary degree.

 

8 of 14

Advertisement

9 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

March 13, 2006

March 13, 2006
Credit: Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images

Playwright Horton Foote, writer Harper Lee and actor Robert Duvall attend Signature Theatre Company to honor Foote on the eve of his 90th birthday at the Ritz Carlton in New York City.

 

9 of 14

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

10 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Aug. 20, 2007

Aug. 20, 2007
Credit: Rob Carr/AP

Lee smiles during a ceremony honoring the four new members of the Alabama Academy of Honor at the state Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.

 

10 of 14

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

11 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

November 5, 2007

November 5, 2007
Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Lee smiles before receiving the 2007 Presidential Medal of Freedom in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C.

 

11 of 14

Advertisement
Advertisement

12 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

November 5, 2007

November 5, 2007
Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

U.S. President George W. Bush hangs a Presidential Medal of Freedom on the neck of Harper Lee.

 

12 of 14

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

13 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

October 19, 2009

October 19, 2009
Credit: Taylor Hill/Getty Images

Lee and Governor Bob Riley attend the 2009 Alabama Academy of Honor Inductions at the Old House Chambers in Montgomery, Alabama.

 

13 of 14

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

14 of 14

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

May 19, 2010

May 19, 2010
Credit: Penny Weaver/AP

Lee pictured in her assisted living room in Montoeville, Alabama.

“The world knows Harper Lee was a brilliant writer but what many don’t know is that she was an extraordinary woman of great joyfulness, humility and kindness,” Michael Morrison, President and Publisher of HarperCollins US General Books Group and Canada said in a statement following news of her death. “She lived her life the way she wanted to – in private – surrounded by books and the people who loved her. I will always cherish the time I spent with her.”

 

14 of 14

Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Cristina Everett

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 14 The Life of Harper Lee
    2 of 14 March 14, 1963
    3 of 14 1962
    4 of 14 1962
    5 of 14 Jan. 23, 2004
    6 of 14 May 19, 2005
    7 of 14 May 19, 2005
    8 of 14 2006
    9 of 14 March 13, 2006
    10 of 14 Aug. 20, 2007
    11 of 14 November 5, 2007
    12 of 14 November 5, 2007
    13 of 14 October 19, 2009
    14 of 14 May 19, 2010

    Share & More

    Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message
    EW.com

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Meredith© Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab Do Not Sell My Personal Informationthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright EW.com. All rights reserved. Printed from https://ew.com

    View image

    Harper Lee: Her Life in Pictures
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.