He participated in World War II as a combat pilot of the Royal Hungarian Air Force, later fell into Soviet captivity.

During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Szipál fled the country, settling and working in the United States.

After establishing a studio in Hollywood, Szipál began to photograph such celebrities as John Wayne, Tommy Lee Jones, Leslie Nielsen, Tracy Nelson, Charlene Tilton, Margaux Hemingway, Timothy Hutton, Priscilla Presley and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Szipál returned to Hungary in 1997, where he worked for newspapers and taught in several photographer schools.

He died of prostate cancer in his home in Budapest on April 26, 2016, just before turning 92.