Sam Psoras, 90, Daily News photographer

Mother Teresa tickled his chin, Frank Sinatra knocked him on his keister, and Joan Crawford once hung on his arm, but for legendary Daily News photographer Sam Psoras,  photographing cops and firefighters was just as fun as shooting celebrities – and sometimes even more so.

"In the early '60s he'd go out to a fire or emergency scene, and when it was under control he'd open his trunk and he'd have wine, beer, and soda, which he'd give to the emergency responders," said his son, Mark.

Samuel Psoras, 90, of Rhawnhurst, died Saturday, Feb. 18, of cardiopulmonary arrest at Holy Redeemer Hospital.

He attended Northeast High and joined the Navy at age 17. He served as a cook aboard the Major in the South Pacific during World War II, and upon his return, he attended photography school on the G.I. Bill.

When Mr. Psoras began his photography career, flashbulbs were still in use. One of his first jobs was doing contract work for William Randolph Hearst's International News Photos. Mr. Psoras was hired by the Daily News in 1950 and worked at the paper until his retirement in 1991.

"I loved every minute of it," he said in a video in which he reminisced about his career.

Mr. Psoras was there when Martin Luther King Sr. and Jr. visited the Bright Hope Baptist Church. He was there when Billie Holiday was taken in on drug charges by Philadelphia police in 1956. He was there when the Mercury astronauts, including John Glenn, trained at a centrifuge in the suburbs in the early 1960s.

He photographed the Beatles, Malcolm X, Grace Kelly, and John F. Kennedy Jr., among others.

Once, while waiting for a shot of Kelly at 30th Street Station, Mr. Psoras did a solid for a man having an affair with Joan Crawford. The man was waiting for the actress at the station, but when his wife caught wind of the rendezvous, the man asked Mr. Psoras to act as if Crawford was there to meet him.

"He played wingman to this man," Mark Psoras said. "As my dad walked up, Joan put her arms around him, asked his name, and said, 'Oh, Sam! Darling!'"

When Sinatra married Ava Gardner in Philadelphia in 1951, Psoras huddled with other photographers on the porch of a house where the couple was staying. When an angry Sinatra came out, he went after another photographer, but that man moved out of the way and Sinatra hit Mr. Psoras instead.

But getting to photograph St. Teresa of Calcutta was one of the high points of Mr. Psoras' career. When he went in close for the perfect photograph, she tickled him under his chin and called him good-looking in Italian.

"She had a lot of charisma and charm," Mr. Psoras said.

Michael Mercanti, director of photography for Philadelphia Media Network, owner of the Daily News, began working with Mr. Psoras in the 1980s.

"He was a young photographer's best friend," Mercanti said. "Sam was optimistic and enthusiastic, a trusted adviser, a ready source for past Daily News coverage, history, and gossip."

For all the images Mr. Psoras created as a photographer, it is an image he created as a father that will stick most with his son.

Mark Psoras was 5 and at the supermarket with his brother and dad. There was an older woman pushing a carriage and one of the wheels was about to come off.

"I remember him going up to her, and he fixed her wheel," Mark Psoras said. "I'll always remember, she took money out of her purse, and he jumped back and put one hand up, saying, 'No, no, no.'

"If my dad could help someone, he would," Mark Psoras said. "He enjoyed people and people enjoyed him."

In addition to his son, Mr. Psoras is survived by his wife of 54 years, Sandra, and son Mark. Another son, Jonathan, preceded him in death.

A viewing will be from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at Campbell & Thomas Funeral Home, 905 Second Street Pike, Richboro. A funeral service will follow at 12:30 p.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to Jesse Hodges Memorial Veterans Scholarship, check payable to MCCC Foundation, 340 DeKalb Pike, East House, Blue Bell, PA 19422 with "Hodges Veterans Scholarship, behalf of Sam Psoras" in the memo section of the check.