Marilyn Monroe photo exclusive:
On her final film, Marilyn Monroe gave a young photographer his big break. Those photos and others Lawrence Schiller captured, plus the story behind them, are revealed in a thrilling new book.
As you’ve never seen her before
In1956, when I was a college photographer, I had seen her angelic face on the cover of
Time magazine. It had never even occurred to me that I might get a chance to photograph the star who was every man’s – and woman’s – fantasy. But now, four years later, Look magazine had hired me to do just that. In a few minutes, I’d be meeting the Marilyn Monroe, face-to-face, on the set of Let’s Make Love.
Somewhere in the distance I could hear music and the sound of someone singing. Then, suddenly, the music stopped and as if out of nowhere Marilyn appeared. There she was wearing a black leotard and sheer black stockings, her face as soft as a silk bedsheet but her expression saying she’s unapproachable.
She passed by me and started walking up the dressing room stairs. “This is Larry,” the publicist said. “He’s with Look magazine. He’ll be around for a few days.”
Marilyn stopped, turned toward me, and took a step down. Unexpectedly, her eyes lit up and she smiled.
“Hi, Larry from Look. I’m Marilyn.”
“And I’m the Big Bad Wolf,” I replied. I had no idea where that came from, and that made me even more nervous than
I already was. I stuck my hand out to shake hers, and the cameras dangling from my neck banged into each other.
Marilyn giggled. And then she broke out into laughter. “You look a bit young to be so bad.”
“I’m 23, but I’ve been shooting since I was about 15,” I managed to answer. She was Marilyn Monroe, and I was there to photograph her! I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life.
Then Marilyn walked up the last two steps and leaned against the green door of her dressing room. “Come on in, Mr. Wolf,” she said in her soft voice.
I’d thought that this was just her movie voice, but it seemed that it was actually the way she talked. It was thrilling. Once I was at the door, I did what I was there to do: as soon as she sat down in front of her large make-up mirror, I started shooting.
I got to the set early the next day only to find everyone standing around and waiting. Marilyn was in her dressing room, the door closed. One hour passed. Two. Three. I soon discovered that she followed her own clock.
It was mid-afternoon, and, wearing a stunning white dress, Marilyn came into sight, standing just inside the doorway of her dressing room, her face as fresh as the morning. I lifted my camera … When she reached the last step, she saw me, smiled, and turned on her