[1] He photographed many celebrities out of the public eye and gained notice for his feuds with some of them, including Jacqueline Onassis and Marlon Brando.

[2] Despite the numerous controversies and claims of stalking, Galella's work was praised and exhibited in art galleries worldwide.

[2] After graduating high school, he won a two-year scholarship at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn but turned it down due to his deficiencies in mathematics.

[7] Galella served as a United States Air Force photographer from 1951 to 1955,[8] including during the Korean War.

[8] In his free time, Galella took pictures of the stars arriving at film premieres, selling them to magazines like National Enquirer and Photoplay.

The film's title is a quote from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis directed to her security agent after Galella pursued her and her children through Central Park, New York.

[3] On June 12, 1973, actor Marlon Brando punched Galella in the face outside a restaurant in Chinatown in New York City, breaking the photographer's jaw and knocking out five of his teeth on the left side of his mouth.

Galella hired lawyers Stuart Schlesinger and Alfred Julien[20] to sue Brando and ultimately settled for US$40,000.

Schlesinger reported in the 2010 documentary Smash His Camera that Galella received two-thirds, but only cared about getting the message out, "I don't want anyone to think they can go around punching me if I am taking their picture.

[3] Galella's other targets included Elvis Presley, whose bodyguards slashed his tires, Brigitte Bardot, whose security staff hosed him down, the restaurateur Elaine Kaufman of Elaine's who once threw a trashcan lid at his head,[25] and Sean Penn, who spat at him and reportedly punched him while being photographed with his then-wife Madonna.