Monroe Marilyn - Marilyn & me: a photographers memories

Copyright 2012 by Lawrence Schiller

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Nan A. Talese / Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada, Toronto.

www.nanatalese.com

DOUBLEDAY is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc. Nan A. Talese and the colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to The Estate of Norman Mailer for permission to reprint an excerpt from Marilyn: A Biography by Norman Mailer, copyright 1973 by Norman Mailer and Alskog, Inc. All rights reserved.

Jacket design by John Fontana

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Schiller, Lawrence.
Marilyn & me : a photographers memories / Lawrence Schiller.1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Monroe, Marilyn, 19261962. 2. Motion picture actors and actressesUnited StatesBiography. 3. Schiller, Lawrence. I. Title. II. Title: Marilyn and me.
PN2287.M69S355 2012 791.43028092dc23
[B] 2012005702

eISBN: 978-0-385-53668-4

v3.1_r1

For Nina,

my friend and caring wife

I n November 1963, at the age of twenty-six, I started to use a tape recorder to preserve the events of my life. By that time I was an accomplished photojournalist, working for glossy picture magazines all over the world. I began interviewing the subjects of my stories and recording them, thereby not only beginning to preserve history but also giving myself a unique education. You see, I grew up not being able to spell or read well (I would later discover that I was dyslexic). So I had found a road to learning.

In 2007, when I was seventy, I asked a friend, the author Larry Grobel, to interview me two times a week, week after week, month after month, to preserve the events of my very full life, because, as I have often said to my own subjects, you owe it to history. Its from this series of interviews, which are still ongoing, that I have gathered my recollections to write about Marilyn Monroe.

The events and conversations in this book have been reconstructed to the best of my memory. To confirm my impressions, Ive also relied on documents and notes from my personal archives and the knowledge of others who knew Marilyn and me during this period of time. Many of the words remain vivid in my mind, and therefore I felt confident in placing the dialogue in quotation marks, making the transition from memory to print more fluent. The photographs are, of course, all mine.

The sound of Marilyns voice still rings true in my ears. Once you heard it in person, youd never forget it.

W hen I pulled in to the 20th CenturyFox studios parking lot in Los Angeles in my station wagon in April 1960, I kept telling myself that this was just another assignment, just another pretty girl that I was going to photograph. But in fact it wasnt just another assignment, and she wasnt just a pretty girl. In 1956, when I was a college photographer, I had seen her angelic face on the cover of Time magazine. After that, as I began to make my way in photojournalism, I got assignments to shoot Jimmy Stewart and Lee Remick in Anatomy of a Murder and the dancer Julie Newmar in Lil Abner, but it had never even occurred to me that I might get a chance to photograph the star who was every mansand womansfantasy. But now, four years later, Look magazine had hired me to do just that. In a few minutes, Id be meeting the Marilyn Monroe, face-to-face, on the set of Lets Make Love.

As the studio publicist walked me to one of the many soundstages, this wasnt the first time Id seen large trucks containing recording equipment parked outside and a red light flashing in front of the entrance, indicating that filming was in progress. We waited a few seconds, and the light went off. Then the publicist led the way through the heavy soundproof doors. Inside, large arc lights and dolly tracks were being moved from one side of the stage to another.

Walking past the hub of activity, we arrived at a dressing room at the back of the soundstage. I have to admit I was excited, but I tried not to show it. The publicist said that we had to wait right there. 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 shes unapproachable.

She passed by me as if I wasnt there and started walking up the dressing room stairs.

This is Larry, the publicist said. Hes with Look magazine. Hell 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. Im Marilyn.

And Im 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 three 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.

Im twenty-three, but Ive been shooting since I was about fifteen, I managed to answer. It did no good to tell myself that she was just a thirty-three-year-old woman. She was Marilyn Monroe, and I was there to photograph her! I dont think Ive ever been so scared in my life.

Twenty-three? I made The Asphalt Jungle when I was twenty-three, she said, almost nostalgically.

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. Id thought that this was just her movie voice, but it seemed that it was actually the way she talked. It was thrilling.

Taking one of my Leicas from around my neck, I followed behind her. 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 makeup mirror, I started shooting. I had gotten off only a few shots when a short woman appeared in the dressing room and began combing Marilyns hair.