After dropping out of high school at the age of 16, he gained a job in the mail room at Look magazine.
He became art director at Flair magazine, where Stern learned how to develop film and make contact sheets, and started taking his own pictures.
In 1951, Stern was drafted into the United States Army, sent to Japan and assigned to the photographic department.
In the 1960s, his heavy use of amphetamines led to the end of his marriage to ballerina Allegra Kent.
This A to Z guide of the most prescribed drugs in the US, which sold 18 million copies, included color photographs of the pills by Stern.