Marilyn & me

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.

- LAWRENCE SCHILLER

In 1956, 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.”