Raimondo Borea's Photograph of Johnny Carson and Steve Allen Featured in Marilyn Maye Show at 54 Below

CELEBRATED SINGER MARILYN MAYE PERFORMING AT 54 BELOW IN NEW YORK CITY ON OCTOBER 30th, 2025, WITH RAIMONDO BOREA’S PHOTOGRAPH OF JOHNNY CARSON AND STEVE ALLEN VISIBLE ON THE MONITORS FLANKING HER.

JOHNNY CARSON AND STEVE ALLEN ON THE TONIGHT SHOW. © THE ESTATE OF RAIMONDO BOREA.

On Thursday, October 30th, GME President Jon Gartenberg, GME Fine Arts Curator David Deitch, and GME Associate Matt McKinzie attended a live musical performance by celebrated singer Marilyn Maye at 54 Below in New York City. Maye is a Grammy-nominated performer who was discovered by Steve Allen in 1963. She went on to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson a record 76 times, the most of any other musical guest. She also recorded a number of successful albums for RCA in the 1960s, and at the age of 97, continues to perform live.

Throughout her show at 54 Below, Maye shared filmed excerpts from her appearances on The Tonight Show as well as stills from the show itself. One of the stills (pictured here) is an on-set photograph taken by Raimondo Borea. Borea, a freelance photographer, was afforded exclusive behind-the-scenes access to The Tonight Show, where he captured candid portraits of the show’s hosts and celebrity guests. The Borea photo featured in Maye’s show is from the mid-1960s and captures host Johnny Carson and guest Steve Allen sharing a laugh.

Over a 40-year career of active photography, Raimondo Borea (1926—1982) amassed an impressive body of photographs that permeated all areas of fine art, television, music, book publishing, and advertising. GME represents Borea’s photographic oeuvre and is committed to resurrecting the career of this important yet overlooked photographer. Borea’s photographs of The Tonight Show and The Today Show in particular are now available for licensing through Getty Images, whom GME recently partnered with to make Borea’s portfolio more accessible. Please contact info@gartenbergmedia.com for all inquiries related to the Borea photography collection.